Have Hope
by Digifan52
Summary: Six years after their final battle, the Digidestined must face another evil that has escaped from the Dark Ocean. In order to prevent the destruction of both worlds, the children must harness the power of hope before the evil uses it against them.
1. Premonition

Hey everyone, I'll keep this short so you can go straight to the story. If you have any comments or questions just leave it in the review section and I'll answer them before the next chapter. Anyways, I've been reading fanfic for a while and this story popped into my head so I thought I'd give it a try. This is my first one so I hope you like it. Thanks and I hope you enjoy.

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon

**Chapter 1:Premonition?**

Kari rode on Angewoman in horror as she and the other digidestined, excluding TK, approached Infinity Mountain. As she looked around, she wasn't sure why all the Digimon were in their strongest forms, or why TK was nowhere to be seen even though Patamon was with them, or why she was in the Digital World in the first place. All she knew was that she was filled with dread, but even knowing that she wasn't sure why she was like that. As they neared the top of the mountain, she saw what appeared to be a barrier of some sort. _When did that happen?_ Kari thought to herself, not knowing why anyone would want to put a force field around Infinity Mountain. Finally, she and the other Digidestined reached the barrier and Kari looked in shock at what was inside. There, she saw a Digimon that strongly resembled Daemon staring back at them. His robe was a dark purple that almost looked black, and claws that were a dark shade of red protruded out of the sleeves that ended at his wrists. From his head were two strong, twisting horns, one protruding from each side. There were black wings on his back that were trimmed with an even darker, more frightening shade of red than his claws. He bore a necklace similar to Daemon's, but the symbol on his charm looked like an inverted crest of hope. But what really frightened Kari was what this creature held in his right claw. TK was being forced to his knees by the Digimon who was pulling him by his blond hair. His eyes, which were normally an ocean blue, was a grey color making it seem the very life had been sucked out of him. To add on to his defeated appearance where the cuts and bruises that covered the greater part of his arms, legs and face. He was spitting out blood, struggling just to breath.

Upon seeing the shocked and horrified faces of the Digidestined, the Daemon-like Digimon let out an evil laugh as he grabbed TK's head with each claw, causing TK to begin crying out in pain. Immediately TK used both hands to try and pry the claws from his head so as to end his torture, but, despite his efforts, the claws remained. He begged his captor to stop the torture, and called out for Matt and Kari to help him. The Digimon of the Digidestined quickly began attacking the barrier with their strongest attacks in an attempt to save TK, but none of the attacks seemed to be doing any good. Not even Imperialdramon or Omnimon attacks did anything to it. Out of the corner of her eye, Kari saw Matt yelling out TK's name with tears streaming down his face. He pounded his fist against the barrier, doing anything he could think of to get to his little brother. However, Kari could not hear any of this; all she could hear was TK's cries of pain and pleads as Daemon continued his torture. Finally, after what seemed like ages to Kari (ad most likely Matt), the evil Digimon threw TK's limp body to the floor and stared at the Digidestined and their Digimon, who had ceased their attacks on the barrier when TK had been released. Though it was evident that TK was weak and in no condition to make any movement, TK did his best to crawl away from the Digimon and to the rest of the children, but his captor ended his efforts by stomping on TK's back and keeping it pressed there.

"All of you have ruined my plans to rule, and now…..Now, all of you will pay the price, starting with him" the Digimon said as he pointed to TK. "And then, I will kill each one of you. But I won't stop there" he chuckled as he continued. "Next I'll go after all those you care about and make sure that they feel all the pain in the world before they too die." With this, he grasped TK by his hair once again and pulled him up until he was three feet off the ground. "And it will all start with the death of hope" the Digimon said as he finished.

"No…..please no" Kari whispered to herself. She fell to her knees as Tai, Matt, Davis, and the other Digidestined doubled their efforts to break the barrier separating them from their comrade. "Stop it please! Let him go!" Kari screamed, joining the others in their efforts. Upon hearing Kari, the evil Digimon extended on hand where a black spear formed. A loud, evil laughter escaped him at which point the raised TK higher, as if to show him to the children one last time. Then, he took the spear and stabbed TK through the heart.

"NOOOOO!" Kari cried as she saw the weapon go through TK. The rest of the Digidestined had similar reactions, but Kari was completely oblivious to this as her only focus was on TK. TK looked down at the weapon and then to Kari with a pained look on his face. He looked at Kari and mouthed something to her. Though she couldn't hear him, she made out the words he was trying to say to her: Kari, I'm sorry. After making contact with TK, the spear dissolved into data and proceeded to disappear. With that, the Digimon threw TK's body behind him and began to walk towards them. "Your hope is gone, now how do you expect to defeat me?" he said. "The answer is, you can't" he continued as he raised his claw. At this motion, the barrier began to disappear, allowing the Digidestined to now reach the evil Digimon. As the rest of the barrier disintegrated, the Digimon said: "And now you shall meet the same fate. Now all of you will die!" He lunged at Kari with claws extended and…

Kari shot to a sitting position with a loud gasp for air. She frantically whipped her head back and forth trying to make sense of her surroundings. After a few moments she realized she was in her room sitting on her bed. Slowly, Kari realized that the ordeal she had just gone through was nothing more than a dream. "More like a nightmare" Kari told herself as she came to this realization. "I wonder what time it is" she said to no one in particular.

"It's six in the morning" a voice said to her. Initially startled by the voice, Kari quickly realized who the voice belonged to. "Oh, I'm sorry if I woke you up" Kari responded. After hearing this, a white, cat-like creature hopped on Kari's bed and began to make her way towards her. "Oh, don't worry about it Kari, it's not like I'm not going to go right back to sleep" Gatomon sarcastically responded. "And besides, you were going to have to get up soon anyways to get ready for school. At least now there isn't a chance you won't be ready when TK comes to pick you up" the cat-like Digimon continued as she made herself comfortable at Kari's side. Kari began to scratch the top of Gatomon's head and remembered that today was Wednesday and, as every other school day morning, TK was going to walk with her to school. Juniors in high school, he two had begun high school two years prior along with Ken and Davis (Yolie had started it the year before and Cody had just started) and TK was kind enough to escort her most days since then. Kari smiled at this, thinking to herself how much she enjoyed spending time with the blonde headed boy.

"Well still, I know how much you enjoy your cat naps" Kari responded with a smile. Though reluctant at first, Kari removed her covers and began to get out of bed so that she could begin her morning routine. As she began to brush her teeth, Kari began to remember the nightmare she had just had. To her, the dream had seemed so real and for TK to die in her dream left her rather shaken. However, what really had bothered her was why she would have a dream like that. She knew that dream were an unconscious part of the mind working, but she would never want anything like that to happen to anyone, least of all TK. And, it had been years since the last had to battle an evil Digimon, so why would she have dreamt of fighting one now? But perhaps most importantly, who had been the evil Digimon that they were fighting? She remembered from the dream that he had strongly resembled Daemon, but she and the rest of the younger Digidestined had sealed him away in the Dark Ocean. There was no way he could've escaped. Upon thinking about all of this, Kari began to scare herself more than she already was. "Just a dream, it was just a dream" Kari continued to repeat to herself, making every effort to try and forget what she had seen. With this thought in mind, she proceeded to get ready for school.

Tai Kamiya, who was a sophomore in college along with most of the older Digidestined, was preparing to leave for his first class of the day when he noticed his little sister sitting at the kitchen table staring into the wall with a bowl of untouched cereal in front of her. Tai immediately knew something important was on her mind based off the stern look on her face. With a sigh, Tai walked to the kitchen and placed a hand on Kari's shoulder. Startled by the contact, Kari jumped and turned her attention to her brother. "Are you ok?" Tai asked with a worried tone. "You look like you did when all that stuff with Daemon and the Dark Spores was going on". Kari nervously laughed at her brother's comparison; she hoped he would never realize how close is comparison really was.

"Yeah I'm fine Tai; I just had a bad dream so I didn't get a whole lot of sleep. But don't worry, I'll be ok" Kari said with a smile. "Are you sure?" Tai asked, still clearly worried about his sister. After she nodded, Tai sighed and hugged his sister from behind. "Whatever's bothering you, I promise it's nothing you can't handle. And you know that everyone of us will be there to help you every step of the way, so don't stress out so much" Tai told Kari before letting go of her. Kari smiled grew bigger as her older brother comforted her. "Just promise me you won't be afraid to tell us if anything is wrong" Tai continued. "You don't have to face whatever this is alone, and I don't want you to. None of us do."

The siblings released there hug and each studied the other for a moment, both trying to figure out what the best thing to say was. "You need to get going Tai, or you'll be late. Besides, I'm about to leave as soon as TK gets here, which should be in about five minutes" Kari told her brother after a few quiet moment. Tai gave a half smile to his sister and said his goodbye to her, then exited their apartment in a hurry so he wouldn't be late for class. Though he didn't want to express his concerns to his little sister, Tai still felt worried for his little sister and didn't want to leave her side. Back inside, Kari placed her bowl in the sink and stared at the wall. Despite what she told Tai, she had a feeling in her stomach that something very bad was about to happen, and TK was the one who was going to suffer the most. She tried to shake that feeling by telling herself that the dream meant nothing, but she couldn't let go of the thought. In truth, she had already come to a realization that she didn't want to admit to herself. Kari couldn't admit it to herself; something terrible was about to happen, and it was going to happen soon.

So there's the first chapter. Reviews would be appreciated if you have the chance to do that. Hope you enjoyed it and I'll be sure to post the next chapter when time permits.


	2. Truth Revealed

Hey everyone, sorry for the late update but my professors all decided to make their exams on the same week (AKA last week). I really did mean to have this up last week so my apologizes to everyone. I'm planning to get to the actual plot of the story pretty soon and I should have that posted within the next week or two. Enjoy.

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon

**Chapter 2: Searching for the Truth**

Tai quickly made his way to the elevator, checking his pockets to make sure he had both his car keys and his phone. After ensuring both were in his possession, he stopped at the elevator in order to wait for its arrival. The brunette didn't have to wait long however, as it arrived after only a few seconds. "Wow, aren't I lucky. If I'm late again my professor would probably have a fit" Tai muttered to himself. When the elevator door opened, Tai was slightly surprised to see who was standing in front of him. He had known this person for a long time, ever since the boy was eight, and looked at him as a little brother. After taking a good look at him, he couldn't help but think to himself that he looked so much like his older brother. Same blue eyes, same blond hair, and he was now just as tall as him (if not taller). The brothers even had the same problem: they couldn't get away from their respective fan girls. Luckily though, neither got caught up in any of that. In fact, both boys seemed to resist it as much as possible. _Yeah, TK has really grown up to be just like Matt. It's hard to believe how far he's come since I first met him_ Tai thought to himself.

"Hey Tai!" TK greeted him with his signature grin, which quickly turned into a look of curiosity. "Aren't you running a little late? Matt mentioned to me that you were on thin ice with his and yours economics teacher."

"Oh, you know me. Just trying to get the full college experience" Tai replied in a sarcastic tone. "And you need to tell Matt that he's been late just as many times as I have. In fact, he's probably the reason why I'm always late. Speaking of which, I have some advice for you: do your best not to take after him" he finished with a smile.

TK couldn't help but laugh at Tai's "advice", after all Tai knew Matt better than anyone else, except for his girlfriend, Sora. Tai joined TK in his laughter after a moment, as the two boys shared their simple yet rare moment. "You should probably get going soon Tai. I didn't mean to hold you up or anything" TK said after the laughter subsided. "Sorry, I hope I don't make you late or anything".

"Don't worry about it TK, we should talk more often. Heck, you're around Kari so much I could probably talk to you more often if I paid attention. And besides, I'll still get there with some time to spare so don't worry so much" Tai said while heading towards the elevator. The boys began to walk in opposite directions, with TK going towards the Kamiya apartment and Tai to the elevator. Before he entered though, Tai stopped and looked back, remembering the conversation he had with Kari just minutes before. "Hey TK, can you hold on for a second."

"Yeah Tai?" TK asked, looking back with a confused expression. TK immediately noticed the worry on Tai's stern face, he was familiar with that expression from all the times he had fought evil Digimon by his side. "Is everything ok?"

"Don't worry about me TK, I'm doing fine. It's Kari, I… I think she's getting one of those feelings again, you know the one that always get us into trouble?" TK knew exactly what Tai was talking about. He was referring to Kari's "sixth sense", her ability to just know that something bad was about to happen. "I mean, she was fine last night, but this morning she was just completely out of it. I tried to ask her about what was wrong but she seemed… she was scared TK". At this, TK tensed up; he cared a lot for Kari, and he definitely didn't want her to be living in fear of anything. "Look, I don't mean to throw her problems or even my problems on to you, but I'm really worried about her." Tai hated forcing this onto TK, but TK had been looking out for Kari ever since their first adventure in the Digital World. If something happened, he knew TK would be the first person to help her, excluding himself. He looked TK in the eye and noticed they were filled with determination. In that instant, Tai knew TK was the right person to help Kari; he knew TK would stop at nothing and do anything to keep her safe. "I don't think she's in danger or anything, at least not yet. What I'm really worried about is that she's going to try and take on a task that is too big for any one person".

TK place a hand on Tai's shoulder, doing his best to relax the older boy. "Hey, you know I don't mind helping anyone with their problems, especially you and Kari. In fact, I'm glad you told me; you know I'd hate it if I didn't help. If you'd like, I'll talk to her and see if she'll tell me. I'm sure it's nothing, she just didn't want you to overreact".

Tai nodded and smiled at TK, letting TK see his full gratitude for what he was doing. "Thanks TK, I really appreciate it. I'm sure I'm just being overprotective about the whole thing." Tai patted TK on the shoulder and began to turn back around to leave. He took one last look at TK and said: "The door should be unlocked so you can head right in. And try to enjoy high school cause college is horrible! And thanks again for always looking out for Kari, especially when I'm not around. It really makes being away from her a lot easier on me knowing she's in good hands."

TK grinned once more to the older boy after hearing what he had said. "You know I want to Tai. But stop worrying so much, you'll just cause yourself more stress." TK said. The two finally said their goodbyes and Tai took the elevator down to the parking garage while TK turned to walk the rest of the way to the Kamiya apartment. After talking to Tai, TK couldn't help but be a little worried about Kari. In the past every time she began to act weird, something bad would always happen. There was the incident in New York when they had met Willis, the time when the Dark Ocean had tried to take her, and the time period leading up to their battle with Daemon and Oikawa. And now, something else could happen. What TK was really scared of happening again was another incident with the Dark Ocean. He knew whatever creature lived there had unfinished business with the both of them and that it would love to try and take Kari again. And maybe this time he wouldn't be able to save her. TK knew he couldn't let Kari in a situation as dangerous as that again, he wouldn't. He would do everything in his power to protect Kari, no matter the cost to him. With this in mind, TK reached the Kamiya's apartment and opened the door.

Kari put her dish away and looked up to the clock. TK still had yet to arrive and, though he wasn't necessarily late, Kari wished he would get to her apartment soon. She had to make sure he was ok. The likely hood of something actually happening to him was very small, but the thought lingered in her mind nonetheless. The young girl closed her eyes and began to replay the dream in her mind again. She could see TK battered and beaten and how he was begging for it to end. Then how the evil Digimon had stabbed him, and then how he had apologized to Kari. _Why would he have apologized?_ Kari thought to herself. She was so caught up in these thoughts that she didn't hear the door to her apartment open, nor notice the pair of eyes that were staring at her. "Hey are you ok?" a voice asked. Kari's head immediately snapped to the sound of the voice and was slightly shocked to see TK standing in the kitchen with her. "You look like something is really, really wrong" TK continued. Before she knew what she was doing, Kari dashed forward and embraced TK in a tight hug, glad to see that he was safe. "Whoa Kari, it's good to see you too but it hasn't even been a day since we last saw each other" TK said while returning he hug.

"Sorry TK, I was just…I'm just glad to see that you're ok" she apologized nervously while releasing the hug. Kari was slightly blushing out of embarrassment, which caused TK to smile. "Don't worry about it Kari, I'm glad to see you too" he responded, smiling. "But why are you so worried about me? I'm doing fine. You on the other hand look really stressed about something." He moved a strand of hair behind her ear so that he could observe her as she responded. As he did this, he couldn't help but notice how beautiful Kari was. She still kept her innocent -yet-cute face despite the fact that she had matured in every possible way, and she also decided to grow her hair out to her shoulders. But despite all these changes, she was still the same person that. Her personality and her heart still resembled one that carried the Crest of Light. Needless to say, it was easy for TK to see why so many guys at their school liked Kari so much. However, TK never thought about perusing a romantic relationship with Kari due to their history together and the fact that he was reluctant to pursue a relationship with anyone as a result of his parent's early divorce.

"Yeah I am. I just didn't sleep very well last night so. Don't be so worried, I really am fine" she responded. Kari ran a quick glance over TK, ensuring that he was truly ok. Like her, he had grown quite a bit over the years. But not only that, he also was able to develop plenty of muscle, giving him a slim but toned look. He easily stood out from all the other boys at their school since not many people, male or female, had blue eyes and blonde hair. With this combination of attributes, it was easy to see that everyone in their high school thought TK was attractive, including Kari. But unlike the rest of the girls, she didn't constantly throw herself at TK. The two shared a special relationship that both Kari and TK easily felt content with. And besides, she knew TK didn't want anything serious in his life at this point. Kari finally rested her gaze on TK's ocean-blue eyes, which she could easily tell conveyed worry. TK sighed and ruffled his hair; he knew she was lying.

"Kari," TK said as the two stared at each other, "we've known each other for almost ten years now. And for most of that time, we've basically been best friends." Kari continued to look at TK as she tried to figure out where he was trying to go with this. "I guess what I'm trying to say is that you always know when I'm lying….just like I always know when you're lying." Realizing how well TK knew her, Kari looked down at her feet, feeling guilty for lying straight to her best friend's face. TK saw this and stepped forward, lifting her head so that they could stare at each other in the eyes. "Listen, I'm not mad or anything, I'm just worried about you. If anything happened to you…..I don't think I would want to be in a world that you weren't in" TK told her in as sincere tone. "I understand that you don't want to be a burden on anyone, and I'd probably be the same way if I were in your position, but it's not going to help anything if you face this by yourself. Everyone knows how strong you are Kari, but everyone needs help. And I'll always be here for you."

Kari sighed and smiled at TK. _He always knows what to say to me_. TK enveloped her in another hug, letting her know that no matter what, he'd support her till the end. "After school TK" Kari whispered into TK's ear. "I promise you I'll tell you everything tonight". The blonde head boy smiled at this, and released the hug to give her his signature grin. "Alright Kari, just whenever you're ready. But, we had better get going. Unless of course you want to scrape gum off the desks" TK continued to say with a grin.

Kari laughed at his poor attempt at a joke, appreciating the fact that he didn't push the subject at hand. Kari walked over to the kitchen table a picked her bag up. "I think I'll pass on that one" she said with a smile. The two walked out the door side by side and went to the elevator. While waiting, Kari looked at TK with a look of gratitude and friendship. He turned his head to match Kari's gaze and the two smiled and immediately blushed, but neither broke their stare. "Thanks TK, for everything" she told TK in a soft voice that expressed her appreciation better than any words could.

TK placed an arm around her shoulder, allowing her to rest her head on his shoulder. "Anytime Kari," he said with equal affection, "anytime."

Thanks everyone and please review.


	3. Distress Call

Hey everyone so here's chapter three, and so far it's the longest I have written. I jump scenes several times so sorry if it's difficult to understand at first. Anyways, like I said the actual plot will start pretty soon, most likely in the next chapter. Hope you enjoy.

**Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon**

**Chapter3: Distress Call**

The walk to school for TK and Kari was nothing like their conversation inside her apartment. The two were talking the entire way about anything they could think of: school, TK's basketball, and the Digimon. By the time they had reached the school gates, Kari had completely forgotten about the dream. The pair went to their lockers (which were conveniently right beside each other) as both prepared to head to their first period class. "I'll see you next period Kari. And I have basketball practice for an hour after class, so I guess I can just meet you at your house after then" TK told Kari before the two had a chance to depart.

"Actually, I was meeting Yolie after school today at the café near my house. We should be there for a while, after all you know Yolie" Kari said with a smile. TK laughed at Kari's joke, closing his locker and looking at her as she did the same. "Think you can just meet me there when you get out?"

"Yeah that'll work for me, but why are you going to see Yolie today?" TK asked in curiosity.

"I'm not sure actually, she just said she wanted to talk. She actually asked for you to come a little later, but she never said why. Weird, huh?" Kari responded.

"Just a little, I think I should be nervous" TK joked. "But hey, try to relax a little and I'll see you soon, ok?" When he saw Kari nod, he pulled her in for a hug and the two friends said goodbye to each other. As he walked away, Kari remained staring at him for a moment. For a second, she thought about following after him, just to make sure he reached his destination in one piece. Kari decided against it, and did her best to convince herself that TK could take care of himself. _Be careful TK. _

"So late, so late" TK muttered to himself as he finished getting dressed. He had just finished basketball practice, which had run thirty minutes over due to several of his teammates being late. As soon as the coach blew the whistle to signal the end of practice, TK ran to the showers and was out in a matter of minutes. Now, he was heading out the door before he was suddenly stopped by Davis. "Hey TJ!" he said as TK came to a stop.

"Still not right Davis" TK said with a smile. "You'd think after the six plus years we've known each other you'd get it right by now".

"Oh, well you know me" Davis laughed. "So what are you about to go do? Meeting Kari and Yolie or anything?

"Yeah…how do you know that?" TK questioned suspiciously. "Did Yolie invite you too?" The spiky haired brunette chuckled nervously and scratched the part of his head that hid under his goggles.

"Um, yeah. She told me to meet her at the café with them… which is why I was looking for you. I needed you to tell her that … my mom is making me clean my room" Davis said, trying not to make it blatantly obvious that he was lying. TK eyed him suspiciously knowing that he was lying about cleaning his room. "It's really messy" Davis added as TK continued to look at him.

"Alright Davis, I'll be sure to tell them for you" TK answered, deciding to let his lie go. After all, what did he care? "I'll see you late, and try not to work too hard. See ya Davis" TK said with a smile as he walked past him. When he reached the doors, he quickened his pace so that he wouldn't keep Kari waiting for longer than she already had.

"Yeah, bye TK" Davis responded. As soon as TK was out the doors, Davis pulled his cell phone out and dialed a number. Almost immediately the person on the other line answered the phone. Not waiting for this person to greet him, Davis quickly said: "Hey, it's Davis. TK just left the gym and he looked like he was trying to hurry so he'll probably be there in about 5 minutes. Hurry up and get out of there". With that, Davis hung up the phone and quickly began heading to the café.

"So Kari, when is TK supposed to get here?" Yolie asked Kari. The two had been sitting at the café for about two hours now, and they had discussed everything from school to movies to Yolie's ongoing relationship with their fellow Digidestined, Ken. The lavender-haired girl, who continued to wear her glasses, had been dating the boy-prodigy for the past three years and both seemed to be enjoying the relationship greatly.

Kari finished her drink before she responded "He was supposed to be here about 30 minutes ago" Kari said as she put her cup down. "I guess practice for them just ran long today. Hopefully his coach didn't work him too hard. But I'm sure he'll be here pretty soon".

"Oh, ok" Yolie said, trying to sound as casual as possible. _TK, hurry up. Your keeping Kari waiting_ she thought to herself. "So…, is he dating anyone yet?" Kari, who was in the process of taking another drink, began to choke on her water. After gulping down her drink, she put the cup down while coughing in an attempt to clear her throat. Finally, she was able clear her voice long enough to respond. "No he isn't. And as far as I know, that doesn't look like that is going to change anytime soon. Now where did that question come from?"

"Well, I just think that it's weird that every girl in school practically throws themselves at him, and that he hasn't even gone on a date. I mean, even you've gone on a few dates, even though I'm sure most of them are just pity dates. But with TK, it's like he never even considers it. It almost seems like he's waiting for someone; it seems like both of you are waiting for someone in particular". At this, Yolie stared at Kari, trying to see her reaction. For Yolie, this had been going on for almost two years now. She was constantly trying to get the two friends to realize how perfect they'd be for each other, but it didn't take her long to realize that they were both more arrogant than she was (at least in her opinion). Yet despite this revelation, she never ceased in her attempts.

"Look Yolie, I know your heart is in the right place but don't try to help TK in his love life. I don't mind you prying into my personal life, but you really should let TK be" Kari told Yolie as nicely as possible. "I promise you this isn't an area that he is concerned with right now".

At this, Yolie raised her eyebrows in surprise. "What do you mean Kari? What happened to him?" Kari bit her lip upon hearing Yolie's question. Although she didn't know for sure, Kari had an idea as to why TK wasn't involved in dating. However, despite the fact that her reason was just a guess, he didn't feel right telling anyone out of fear of betraying TK's trust. "Kari, did something happen to him when he was younger?"

Sighing, Kari decided to share her idea with Yolie, thinking that she'd be sincere enough to keep it to herself. "Yolie, if I tell you this, you have to promise me that you won't tell anyone about this, not even Ken. I'm sure TK doesn't like others knowing about his personal problems and I don't want him to find out that we've been talking about him. Can you promise me that?" Yolie gave a quick nod and leaned forward, intrigued by the sudden change in Kari's tone. "I'm sure you know that TK's parents have been divorced for a while right? Well it happened to TK before I even met him. And maybe it doesn't sound like a big deal at first, but everyone had told me how much it bothered him. Tai, Sora, and even Mimi could all tell that it was hard for him to deal with. Even Matt had problems coping with it. Neither one of them seemed to take the divorce well, and both of them couldn't stand living separately. I wasn't there at the beginning of their adventure, but everyone told me that they finally began to come to terms with it by the time I joined them. Matt was finally able to open up a little, and I'm sure dating Sora is helping also, but I don't think TK has ever fully come to terms with his parents' divorce". Yolie was staring at Kari as she spoke, surprised at what she was hearing. This was the first she had heard about this, and it was hard for Yolie to imagine TK being upset about something. But the more she thought about it, that more she realized how hard it must have been for TK growing up. "My point is," Kari continued "I think it's hard for TK to open up to anyone, especially enough to be in a relationship. I've known him for almost ten years now so I'm closer to him than most other people, but I'm not so sure that he wants an intimate relationship. I just think that he's afraid that if he gets involved in a relationship, he'll end up like his parents".

Yolie was silent, trying to register what she had just heard. Yolie honestly couldn't imagine having her parents slit up, nor imagine being pulled away from her siblings. She looked at Kari, who was staring the table with a stern look. "Hey, I'm sorry for making you tell me that Kari" Yolie said while placing a hand on Kari's shoulder. She looked up at Yolie and gave her a half smile. "Have you ever talked to him about this?"

Kari shook her head in response. "I don't think it's exactly an issue that he wants to talk about Yolie. Besides, it's just a guess".

"Maybe your right Kari, you could be wrong. But you are his friend. If anyone was to talk about it with him, it'd be you". Kari stared at Yolie, putting deep thought into the Yolie's words. "I promise you I won't mention anything to anyone, especially TK, but I just think that's something you should talk to him about. Who knows, maybe it'll end up helping him".

"Yeah, maybe". Kari responded quietly. Yolie studied Kari as she picked her cup up and took another drink of her water. After their conversation, Yolie was even more convinced that TK and Kari belonged together since, outside of his family, she was the only one that actually knew his deepest secrets. The two friends began to talk about lighter subjects after a few moments of silence, and soon the mood returned to a happy one filled with talking and laugher. Their good time ended quickly though as Yolie's cell phone began to ring. She picked her phone up and looked at her caller ID. "Oh, it's my mom. Just give me a second Kari. Hello?"

As soon as Yolie answered her phone, the person on the other line spoke in a rushed tone. "Hey, it's Davis. TK just left the gym and he looked like he was trying to hurry so he'll probably be there in about 5 minutes. Hurry up and get out of there". Yolie took a quick glance at Kari, who was completely oblivious that Davis was on the other line. Davis had hung up at that point, leaving Yolie to come up with an excuse to leave. "Alright mom, I guess I can. I'll be there in a minute, bye.

"Sorry Kari. I hate to leave you alone, but I have to head out. My sister got sick and isn't able to work her shift at the store so my mom really needs me to go" Yolie said with an apologetic look.

"Don't worry Yolie it happens. Besides, I'm sure TK will be here soon enough so I won't be alone for long. Tell your mom hi for me and I hope your sister gets better" Kari said kindly. The two friends said goodbye to each other and Yolie quickly left, leaving Kari alone at the table. Left by herself, Kari's mind began to drift back to her dream and back to TK. _What if he didn't make it to practice? What if something happened when he was alone?_ No matter what she did, Kari couldn't force those thoughts out of her mind. She began to get so anxious that she finally took her D-terminal and began to email TK. **Hey, where are you? Are you close?**

A minute passed, and then another and still TK hadn't responded to the email. For Kari, these minutes seemed to last for an eternity, as she gradually became more and more convinced that her dream was coming true. Finally, Kari's D-terminal went off signaling that she had received an email. She quickly opened the device and smiled upon reading the email. **That depends. What exactly is your definition of close?** "He's okay" she whispered to herself. She heard footsteps and turned around to see TK walking up to her, grinning. "Hey Kari, sorry I'm late. Some guys showed up late so our coach decided to keep us later than usual" he said casually while taking a seat beside her. "It's ok TK, I figured that was what took so long" she said returning the smile. "And ironically Yolie left about five minutes ago, so it's just us".

"Hmm, that's weird. Apparently Davis was supposed to meet us here too, but he claimed he had to clean his room" TK said thoughtfully. Kari gave him a questioning look, and TK felt inclined to tell her what had happened. "He said that Yolie told him to be here but he caught me as I was leaving to have me tell Yolie that he couldn't come. To tell you the truth I bet he just wanted to play soccer and didn't want to face Yolie when he cancelled at the last moment". Kari laughed at the idea of Davis being too afraid of Yolie to tell her he didn't want to go, which in turn caused TK to do the same. When the laughter died down, TK continued to talk. "But anyways, how was your day? Did everything go alright?"

Kari sat in her seat and began to feel more and more anxious. Although he didn't say it out right, she knew TK was asking whether or not her dream had continued to bother her throughout the day. "Um, I could've used a little more sleep…" Kari said quietly. In truth, Kari had difficulty focusing for most of the day; she just couldn't seem to occupy herself enough to forget about the dream. And, unless they were together, she couldn't stop worrying about TK. She looked at TK, who in turn was staring back at her. After a few moments of this, Kari dropped her head in defeat; she knew she had to tell him. "It bothered me a lot TK. I just can't shake the feeling that something bad is about to happen. That he's about to come back, and he'll be more powerful than ever".

TK looked at her with a stern look. "Who's coming back, a Digimon?" Kari remained silent after that, too afraid to continue talking. For TK, this silence was all the answer he needed. "Who was it, Myotismon again?"

"No" she whispered.

"Then who is it Kari?" she remained silent for a moment, not wanting to admit to TK what she saw. "Listen, I know your scared, but you can't face this alone". TK began to scoot closer and put a hand on Kari's shoulder. "Whatever this is, I promise you I won't let anything happen to you. And you know that with all of us together, we can stop whatever this thing is. Just have some hope".

"I know TK…Just the last time we faced him we didn't really win, we just got lucky. And I'm sure he wants revenge on all of us. TK…I think Daemon is about to return.

"What do you think they're saying?" Davis whispered.

"Maybe I could tell you if you let me see" Cody said from behind their goggle-headed leader. "You know we really shouldn't be doing this. We're invading their privacy, and I'm sure neither one of them appreciate that". Davis, Cody, Yolie, and Ken were all hiding behind some bushes that were perfectly placed across the street for where TK and Kari were. The group had been spying on the pair since TK had arrived and had been trying since to decipher what they had been saying.

"You know, maybe Cody is right. And besides, I'm sure they can handle their personal life on their own just fine. We really should just leave them be" Ken quietly suggested. "I mean, they both seem pretty fine with how their relationship is now, why should we try and make them change it? And I'm not going to lie, this really isn't the best plan to try and get them together".

"Because Ken, they're too arrogant" Davis responded quickly. "And don't hate on my plan, after all half of it was Yolie's idea". As he said this, he looked towards Yolie who was transfixed on the conversation. "What are they saying? And why does Kari look like she's about to breakdown?" At this, the rest of the group snuck a peak at the pair.

"Did…did she just say Daemon?" Cody asked in a worried tone. "There's no way they'd be talking about him right?"

"I don't know Cody, but I think that is what she said. And look at TK, he seems worried too" Ken whispered back. "But he's in the Dark Ocean, there's no way he could've gotten out of there".

"We can't assume anything right now" Davis said, as he too began to become worried. He remembered their battle with the demonic Digimon well; and he wasn't particularly excited about facing him again. "We'll ask them about it later, but right now-"

Just then all of their D-terminals went off, and Cody noticed that both TK and Kari had also received a message. _Well if we all are getting the same message, then this can't be good_ he thought as he pulled out his D-terminal. Opening the device, he saw that the email was from Gennai. "Why is he emailing us, we haven't heard from him since we defeated Malomyotismon" Yolie said out loud. "This can't be good" she said in a frightened tone, voicing exactly what every Digidestined was thinking after the read the email.

**Digidestined, please come to the Digital World and see me quickly. A portal between here and the Dark Ocean is beginning to form. Something is trying to escape.**

Thanks for reading everyone and please review.


	4. First Encounter

Alright everyone here's the next chapter and I hope you enjoy it. This is my first fight scene, but I'm planning on having another one fairly soon so stay tuned.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Digimon

"Daemon?…Kari, are you sure?" TK hesitantly asked. "I mean,…the last time we fought him, it wasn't even a battle. He was practically toying with us. And if he did somehow manage to escape the Dark Ocean, then that means he's going to be stronger than before". Kari shifted in her seat becoming more uncomfortable by the second. She knew that TK would want her to tell him exactly what happened in the dream, and she didn't know if she had it in her could tell TK what she saw. "There's something else, isn't there?" TK asked as he noticed Kari close her eyes and begin to cry. "Kari…what is it? Does something happen to Tai?" Kari shook her head and turned away from TK, not wanting to look him in the eye. "Does he hurt you?" TK asked in a much less sincere tone. Kari lifted her head and looked TK in the eye; his face had lost all of his kindness and had been replaced by a look of determination and anger.

"TK… my dream…listen to me, whatever happens you have to-" Kari was suddenly cut off by the sound of her and TK's D-terminal going off. "You're getting it too?" Kari asked in a worried tone. TK gave her a knowing nod; they both knew what it was about. Kari opened the device and saw that the email was from Gennai. Taking a deep breath, she opened the message and read: **Digidestined, please come to the Digital World and see me quickly. A portal between here and the Dark Ocean is beginning to form. Something is trying to escape.**

Kari sat in her seat frozen with fear. _This can't be happening. Not after all this time. _"Kari," TK said softly, "it's going to be ok. Breathe, ok? Just breathe". Kari hadn't even noticed that she had stopped taking breaths upon reading the email. She began to pant, and TK placed an arm around her shoulder and began to talk in a whisper into her ear. "Listen to me, whatever this thing is, we're going to stop it. And I don't care if it's Daemon or not, I'm not going to let anyone hurt you". He paused for a moment, letting his words sink in and continued. "Let's meet up with the others and we'll go see Gennai and stop this thing before anything happens ok? Just trust me". She looked up to see TK smiling; it was obvious he was doing everything he could to make the situation better. Yet despite his efforts, Kari was still was scared that the Digidestined, particularly TK, wouldn't make it out of this battle. She continued to let her tears flow freely, which were quickly wiped away by TK's hand. Thinking Kari was merely crying out of fear for her own safety, he once again went up to Kari's ear and said, "Kari, anything that wants you is going to have to go through me first".

Once again she looked into his ocean blue eyes, this time considering telling him not to say that. Before she could say anything however, both their D-terminals went off again, this time with a message from Davis. **Meet at the computer lab with the Digimon at the school in 5 minutes - Davis**. "We'd better hurry up, especially if Gennai needs our help" TK said as he stood up. Kari nodded and proceeded to do the same, thinking about what TK had said: _…anything that wants you is going to have to go through me first. _The two began to run towards their respective apartments, while Kari continually repeated TK's comments in her head. _That's what I'm afraid of TK._

"Why aren't they here yet? We were seriously five feet away from them!" Davis complained as he looked at the time. The spiked brunette anxiously looked at the clock to keep track of how much time they had already wasted. "Maybe we should just go and have them meet us there".

"Davis, you need to calm down. I'm sure they'll be here soon, and besides we have to be at full strength when we get there, especially if it is Daemon". Cody calmly said as he took a seat. The youngest Digidestined had managed to grow as tall as the rest of the group (with the exception of TK), yet still held his calm aura.

Davis was about to argue with him, but Ken grabbed his arm before he could begin. "Davis, Cody is right. We can't go there when we aren't at full strength. Besides, they probably needed to grab their Digimon from there house like we did. And I'm sure there will still be plenty of action left for us before it is all said and done". Davis sighed after hearing the lavender-haired, boy-genius' arguments and took a seat beside Veemon. The blue reptile Digimon quickly jumped into his partners lap, saying "Don't worry Davis, we'll be there in no time to kick some butt!" Davis smiled at his Digimon's enthusiasm, but remained silent.

The clock continued to click away, and soon Yolie began tapping her foot in impatience. "Maybe Davis is right. Maybe we should just have them meet us in the Digital World" she said after a few more minutes had passed. "I mean it hasn't exactly been five minutes, but this could be time we can't afford to waste". Just as she said this, Kari burst into the room with Gatomon in her arms. "Sorry were… late. I had to…run home …and… get Gatomon" she said while simultaneously gasping for air. "TK should…be right…behind me".

Almost on cue, TK ran up behind Kari with Patamon in his arms. "Alright let's go" TK said from behind Kari. Unlike her, TK wasn't out of breath due in large part to his conditioning from basketball. The two walked over to the computer, and TK began to load the program that would open the gate. "Anyone know where we should be going?" TK asked as the gate began to configure.

"Wherever the blinking red dot is" Ken responded plainly while walking up to the computer. "I have a hunch that a battle has already started". TK nodded, and began to search the map for a destination. Sure enough, he was finally able to spot a blinking red dot in an all too familiar place. "That's where the Dark Whirlpool is…" Ken whispered out loud. "It makes sense that a portal would open up there" Yolie said in a serious tone. "Maybe the connection between those two worlds is weak there".

"It doesn't matter. What matters is that we get there and stop whatever is coming out" Davis piped in. "Is everyone ready?" He looked around at the rest of the Digidestined and their Digimon to see all of them nodding. "Alright, as soon as we get there we should be ready to digivolve, and maybe even DNA digivolve if it gets too bad". He lifted his blue D-3 digivice along with everyone else to the screen and took a deep breath. "Here we go, digiport open!" The computer began to light up and soon engulfed the team. Moments later, the lab was empty.

A TV began to glow in an open field, and soon six children and their Digimon emerged from the screen. As soon as the Digidestined landed on their feet, they heard an explosion nearby. "Looks like we landed in the right place" Ken muttered sarcastically. "Wormmon, you and the rest of the Digimon better digivolve".

"Right Ken" the green insect Digimon said. Ken's black digivice began to suddenly glow, and Wormmon was soon surrounded by a sphere of light. "Wormmon digivolve to…Stingmon!" The light that had engulfed the rookie Digimon soon disappeared to reveal a green-humanoid insect. Four transparent wings had grown from his back, and black claws were now connected to his arms and legs.

"We can't let him have all the fun. Veemon, you ready pal?" Davis asked, lifting his own D-3. "I'm always up for a good brawl!" the blue reptile responded while clenching his fists. Davis' own digivice began to glow, causing Veemon to also be engulfed by a sphere of light. "Veemon digivolve to…ExVeemon!" ExVeemon now stood much taller that his rookie counterpart, while also growing a pair of small white wings. A large blade replaced the rookie's horn, and his chest bore a large X on it.

"Alright Armadillomon, our turn!" Cody exclaimed.

"Armadillomon digivolve to … Ankylomon!" The yellow armadillo was soon replaced by a dinosaur-like digimon that had armor lining his entire body along with spikes that were sticking out of his back. His tail also became longer, while also growing wrecking ball on his tail that bore additional spikes.

"Don't forget about us! Let's go Hawkmon!" Yolie shouted to her hawk partner.

"Hawkmon digivolve to… Aquilamon!" Two large horns had grown from the giant bird-Digimon's head, and his talons became grew in size making them all the more dangerous. He had a massive wingspan that was well over 12 feet, and now stood larger than all of the other Digimon.

"Kari, I don't think I should digivolve. Now that I have my tail ring back I'm as strong as a champion level Digimon, and if I need to DNA digivolve with Aquilamon than we can't waste time de-digivolving" Gatomon said to her partner as she looked at her. "Yeah, that would probably be the smartest thing to do" Kari said in agreement. She turned her head to see TK staring at her. She could tell that he didn't like that Gatomon didn't think it was the best idea for her to armor digivolve, but he also understood her logic behind the decision.

TK looked away and towards Patamon. The guinea-pig like Digimon began to hover in the air, inspecting TK while waiting for him to say something. He didn't have to wait long however, as TK lifted his green D-3 and pointed it at Patamon. Quietly, he whispered "Patamon, be sure to keep an eye out for Kari and Gatomon, I have a feeling whatever this thing is it is going to be after them". Patamon quietly nodded before responding "Don't worry TK, we won't let anything happen to them".

"I know you won't pal" TK whispered back with a small smile. No longer feeling the need to whisper, TK opened his mouth and said "Alright Patamon, let's do this!" His digivice began to light up, causing Patamon to digivolve.

"Patamon digivolve to…Angemon!" The angel Digimon bore no resemblance to Patamon; he appeared to look human, but there seemed to be a light that radiated from him and the six large, angelic wings were attached to his back. In addition to this, he held a golden staff in his right hand and wore a helmet that covered his eyes, giving him the look of a blind prophet.

"Alright, now we're ready to go" Davis said after all the Digimon had digivolved. Just as he said this, a giant Digimon that strongly resembled a blue dragon with a body made of mist covered in chains flew over their heads towards the direction of the battle. "Is that…Azulongmon?" asked Yolie as the Digimon passed by.

"Yes, it is. He and the other Sovereigns are attempting to use their powers to close the gate". A new voice said from behind them. All of the children and their Digimon turned around to see Gennai, who had just walked up behind them. Gennai, who still had the appearance of a young man despite the six years that had passed, looked on towards the battle and continued "We don't know for sure what is trying to escape, but if it is powerful enough to open a portal we definitely don't want it to enter either of our worlds. But all of you should hurry and help them. The dark creatures that live in the Dark Ocean are making it difficult for them to focus on closing the gate. You have to hold them off so that they can focus solely on closing the gate". The children looked at each other with a worried expression. Each one of them had a feeling who was trying to escape, but none wanted to say it out loud. It was Kari that finally asked the question that was on everybody's mind: "Who do you think it is Gennai?"

Gennai gave a small sigh before responding to Kari's question. "Based off of the energy levels, I would assume that it is Daemon. I can't tell you for sure if it is him or not, but I honestly don't know who else it could be". Kari gave a short nod and fought the urge to cry. She suddenly felt a hand on her shoulder and immediately knew whose hand it was. Loud enough for everyone to hear, TK said "We stopped him once and we can stop him again. And this time we'll have Azulongmon and the rest of the Sovereigns helping us".

"TK's right" Davis said enthusiastically. "Now enough talk, let's go send this guy back to where he came from!"

"Right! Kari, you and Gatomon get on Angemon with me" TK quickly said before anyone else could offer her a ride. "And like Davis said earlier, we should be ready to DNA digivolve at any time". When TK finished, he and the rest of the Digidestined quickly mounted their respective Digimon, with the exception of Kari who rode on Angemon with TK and Gatomon, and rode as fast as they could towards the battle. "Kari, listen to me" TK said grasping Kari's arm before the group could reach the fight, "no matter what happens promise me that you'll stay close to me". She began to argue with him, but TK quickly cut her off before any words could leave her mouth "I know that you can take care of yourself, but you can't handle Daemon alone. And if those Dark creatures are still after you it will just make it easier Daemon to get you…Promise me you'll stay close to me".

Kari looked at him seriously and sighed. "Alright TK, I promise". _At the very least I can keep an eye on him _she thought to herself. TK nodded ad looked towards the battle, mentally preparing himself. It was Yolie and Aquilamon that reached the fight first and the bird-Digimon wasted no time in attacking. "Blast rings!" Red energy rings began to shoot from his horns connected with a group of the Dark creatures, who immediately turned their attention to the Digidestined. He followed up his attack by diving into the group of enemies with his massive talon, knocking most of the creatures down. Aquilamon quickly disengaged from his attacks as more and more of the monsters began to converge on him.

With the Dark creatures momentarily distracted by Aquilamon's initial attack, ExVeemon, Stingmon, Angemon, and Gatomon were able to sneak up behind them and begin their own assault. "Vee-laser!" ExVeemon yelled while releasing an X-shaped beam from his chest towards the creatures. The beam connected with two of the creatures, and were immediately turned into bits of data. At this point, Davis jumped off ExVeemon and ran to an area away from the fighting.

"Spiking Strike!" Stingmon charged the creatures with a beam sword that was connected to his hand and ran through three of the creatures. After he had finished his attack, Stingmon landed on his feet, allowing Ken to get off of his back and run towards Davis. When he was sure that Ken was safe with his teammate, he joined ExVeemon and the two began to punch and kick any of the creatures that tried to advance towards the children.

As Angemon was flying up, a one of the creatures lunged at him and was about to attack when Gatomon jumped off Angemon's back and attacked the charging monster. "Lightning Paw!" Her fist connected with the creature, sending it flying backwards. "Angel Rod!" Angemon attacked while his and Gatomon's shared opponent was immobilized. He threw his staff which, open contact, destroyed the evil creature before returning to Angemon's hand. He turned to see another group of enemies heading towards him and Gatomon. Not wasting anytime, he began to charge his hand in preparation of his signature attack. "Hand of Fate!" Angemon yelled while releasing a golden beam from his hand. The beam connected with the group and exploded. After the smoke from the blast cleared, TK and Kari saw that the entire group had been defeated and turned into data. "You two better join the others before things get too messy" Angemon said to TK and Kari. The pair nodded and ran to where Ken and Davis were while Angemon and Gatomon went to go engage more enemies.

Cody and Ankylomon were the last to join the battle due to the fact that Ankylomon had to run instead of fly. Before he had a chance to attack, Cody jumped off the giant, dinosaur-Digimon and joined the rest of the children in their safe area. When Cody was at a safe distance, Anklyomon yelled "Tail Hammer!" and began to swing his tail at the nearest group of creatures. Immediately two them were defeated, and with each swing of his tail two more were turned into data. Ankylomon continued his assault on the Dark creatures, and soon Aquilamon returned to the battle after he had dropped Yolie off by the other Digidestined. The Digimon were easily handling the hordes of Dark creatures, but no matter how many of them that they defeated, more and more of them would appear.

While the others watched their Digimon battle the Dark creatures, Kari turned her attention to Azulongmon and what she assumed to be the rest of the Digimon Sovereign. Along with Azulongmon there were three other Digimon surrounding a portal that seemed to be growing bigger. To Azulongmon's right was a Digimon that resembled a giant turtle that had a giant tree growing from its back. Next to that Digimon was a giant bird that Kari would've thought to be a phoenix. Though the bird-Digimon did not appear to be on fire, it was covered with orange and red feathers, with the top of its wings having yellow feathers. It Digimon had six wings and its beak was long and pointed. To the left of Azulongmon was the last Sovereign, a large white tiger with purple stripes coming from its back. The Digimon had four huge paws that had three metallic claws attached to each. Surrounding it's torso was a circle of golden orbs, and his face was covered by a purple mask with four eyeholes. All four of the holy Digimon were attacking the portal with powerful beams coming from each of their mouths, but despite this the portal continued to grow in size. In addition to this, the Dark creatures continued to pour out from the portal at an alarming rate. Kari grabbed TK's arm, trying to get him to notice the growing portal. "TK, we have to help them. That thing is going to be big enough for Daemon in a few seconds".

"You're right" TK said to Kari after briefly inspecting the portal. "But I don't know how we can-". A sudden explosion cut off what TK was saying to Kari, and it was soon followed by multiple roars of pain. All the Digidestined looked up in horror to see that the Sovereigns had been thrown by some unknown force into different directions. Each crashed into the ground and attempted to get up, but their strength quickly gave out on them and the four Sovereigns collapsed to the ground. "How…What happened?" Yolie stammered. "What was powerful enough to knock all four of the Sovereigns out?"

As if in response to Yolie's question, an evil laugh began to come from the portal, and soon a shadowy figure emerged from the portal and stepped out onto the plane. It was Daemon.

"So, we meet again Digidestined" Daemon said with laughing tone. "It took more time than I originally thought, but I told you that you had not seen the last of me". He slowly looked over each of the children, eventually stopping on Kari. "Yes, it's been a very long time, and I have been looking forward to this since the day you sent me to the Dark World".

He began to advance towards them while lifting his hand as he prepared to attack the children. "Hand of Fate!" Angemon's golden attack suddenly flew in from behind the children and hit Daemon on the chest, making him take a step back. The surprise attack momentarily stunned Daemon, and immediately Angemon and the rest of the Digimon came between the children and Daemon, ready to defend them at any given moment.

"Nice shot Angemon!" Davis shouted to the angel Digimon. "Now, we all better digi-".

"Evil Inferno!" Daemon's attack sped towards the Digimon and exploded in front them, forcing them two fly backwards. As each Digimon flew in different directions, they were forced to return to their rookie levels, except for Gatomon, and fell to the ground with a large crash. Each of the Digidestined shuttered at the sight of their Digimon being so easily defeated. "Hahaha, how pathetic" Daemon said as he began to step towards the children once more. Kari's eyes opened wide with fear as Daemon looked to be heading in her direction, and she began to step backwards.

Taking note that Daemon was approaching his and Kari's direction, TK stepped in front of Kari and placed an arm in front of her, doing his best to protect her from the evil Digimon. "You're not touching her" TK said in a way that let everyone know he meant what he had said. Daemon stopped in his tracks and looked at TK before letting out another laugh. "You don't know what is coming boy" he said as his laughter ceased. "And there isn't anything you can do to stop what is about to happen". He once again began to approach TK, and Kari grabbed his arm trying to pull him back. "TK stop it. If he wants me than maybe he'll leave the rest of you alone" she said trying to reason with her best friend.

"No Kari, he's not hurting you or any of us for that matter" TK told her, never taking his eyes off of Daemon. Before Daemon could reach him though, a giant blast came from the side and hit Daemon, knocking him down. The evil Digimon looked up to see where the attack had come from only to see Azulongmon and the rest of the Digimon Sovereigns begin to rise. "I can see when I'm outmatched" Daemon said rising to his feet. He returned his gaze to TK and Kari and continued to speak. "But know that soon, not even their powers will be able to protect you. And then, you will be mine". A portal began to open up behind Daemon and soon all of the remaining Dark creatures ran into the portal and disappeared. When all of the creatures were gone, Daemon began to walk backwards into the portal, never taking his eyes off of TK and Kari. When he was fully inside, the portal began to shrink in size as the link between the two worlds began to disappear. Before he was fully gone though, Daemon said "Mark my words, we will meet again. And when that time comes, no one will stop me". After this, portal vanished, leaving the battlefield quiet and empty.

Thanks for reading and please review.


	5. Daemon's Plan

Hey everyone, first off let me say thank you to everyone who has reviewed so far and please keep it up, I do enjoy reading them. Anyways, here's the next chapter and I hope all of you like it.

**Disclaimer:**** I don't own Digimon**

"How are you feeling buddy?" TK asked Patamon as he took a seat beside his partner.

"Let's just say you owe me plenty of ice cream when we get back" Patamon said as he jumped into TK's lap and curled into his arms. TK couldn't help but smile at the little Digimon; he knew Patamon was trying to cheer him up after they had failed to even slow down Daemon. "Yeah, I'll get you some as soon as we get home". It had been a few hours since Daemon had returned to the Dark Ocean, and the Digimon had just barely regained conscious. They were all currently resting in Gennai's home, awaiting for the chance to talk to the old man and see if he could assist them with any information. The rest of the Digidestined, after being insured that there Digimon would be fine, were out exploring Gennai's house since they had never seen a house that was completely submerged in water. TK however decided to remain with Patamon and the other Digimon since he had visited Gennai's home once before. In truth, he partially did this so that he could make sure Patamon was alright when he awoke, but he also wanted to get away from everyone and think to himself. And the only things that were on his mind were Daemon and Kari. All he thought about was what he could possibly want with the Digidestined of Light. _Maybe Gennai will be able to tell us_.

"TK?" Patamon asked quietly so that the other Digimon could not hear them. "What's wrong with Kari?" TK gave him a look of confusion at the question as he tried to figure out why Patamon would ask him something like that. He didn't have to ponder about it for long as Patamon said: "Every time Kari is in danger or something is wrong with her, you always have the same look on your face, even when you were eight. And plus you seemed pretty worried about her before the battle".

"I don't know for sure Patamon" TK said after a moment's hesitation. "She told me that she had a dream last night about Daemon, and I think in the dream he tried to kill her. With everything that just happened, I don't think that that was just a coincidence. And I think Daemon wants her for something. Why else would she have that dream?" The orange and white Digimon nodded and turned his head as he heard a door open; the rest of the group had returned. The moment the rest of the Digimon realized they had returned, the Digimon jumped into their respective partner's arms, happy to see them again. With smiles on their faces, all the children began to ask their partners various questions about their health and promised them that they would return home soon.

Kari began to walk over to TK and took a seat beside him after Gatomon had assured her that she was ok. "How are you?" TK asked when she had positioned herself on the floor. She looked up to see what the others were doing, and saw that they were all still attending to their Digimon. She then shifted her attention back to TK, who was staring back at her, and sighed. "Scared" she said plainly, not feeling the need to even attempt lying to TK.

"Me too" he responded quietly. TK then turned to the floor, trying to think of the best way to proceed from here. Suddenly, he felt something touch his shoulder, and turned to see that Kari had closed her eyes and put her head on his shoulder. "Sorry TK, I hope you don't mind. Today has just been…you know". The blonde couldn't help but smile at his best friend's actions. "Kari, I'm sure no one knows what you're going through, but you really don't need to apologize for resting. You know I don't mind, especially if it helps".

With her eyes still closed, Kari smiled and began to scoot closer to him. "And TK? Thanks for not letting him take me".

"I'll never let anyone take you away" she heard him whisper into her ear.

"Well, now that we're all ok, does anyone have any ideas about what we should do from here?" Ken said as he took a seat across from TK and Kari, Wormmon in his arms. "I mean we didn't beat Daemon, so he's bound to try and enter the Digital World again at some point. Any ideas as to how we stop him from succeeding?"

"I think it's pretty apparent that we can't beat him on our own. I know that they were just at the Champion level, but Daemon looked like he was fighting a bunch of elementary kids when he attacked our Digimon" Cody said. He walked over to a wall, with Armadillomon right behind him, and leaned against it, letting his fatigue show. "Really the only thing that seemed to faze him was Azulongmon's attack, and even then he was able to get up like nothing happened".

"I'm not entirely sure that the Sovereigns are strong enough to beat him" Yolie said, taking a seat beside Ken. "I mean something had to knock all of them back. It had to be Daemon that attacked them while they were closing the gate. But when Azulongmon hit him when he was going after Kari, he acted like he knew he was going to be overpowered. If he was able to knock out all four of them initially, how come he was scared of them when they got up?"

"I think I can answer that for you". Gennai entered the room and stood in the middle of the room so that all the children and their Digimon could see them. He looked around to make sure he had everyone's attention and continued. "Before I begin, let me first thank you for buying the Sovereigns enough time to recover from that initial attack. Now to answer your question Yolie, Azulongmon and I have come to the conclusion that Daemon is able to amplify his power by connecting himself with the Dark Ocean". Most of the children gave a small gasp, and TK continued to look at the ground with a stern look on his face. "We think that when the portal was opening, Daemon used the Dark Ocean to increase his power and attacked the Sovereigns before they had a chance to retaliate. But when he entered the Digital World, he was cut off from the power supply, making him weaker than the Sovereigns. Though, it appears he is still an extremely powerful Digimon, even without his amplified powers. We don't know how he is able to do this, but I can't think of another explanation".

"What do you think he's after?" Ken asked after a few moments of silence. "Maybe if we know that then we'll be able to stop him before he can get to it".

"Azulongmon and I have discussed this extensively," Gennai said as he turned towards Ken "and we believe that he is either after you or Kari". TK felt his heart stop beating for a moment as he turned towards Kari. The blonde knew she was doing her best to remain calm, but he also knew that she had the same feeling of distress that he had in the pit of her stomach. "However, we feel that it is Kari that he is truly after. If I remember your last encounter with Daemon correctly, he was after the Dark Spore inside of Ken. But now that it has been removed, there would really be no reason for him to go after you, Ken". At this point, Kari unknowingly grabbed TK's arm trying to keep him close. In response to her action, TK placed his other arm around Kari in what appeared to be a protective pose.

"Why Kari?" TK asked as soon as Gennai had finished his explanation. "Why her? Why wouldn't he want to come after any of the rest of us?"

"Isn't it obvious? She poses the biggest threat to the Dark Ocean, his new source of power" Gennai answered. "Since she is the embodiment of light, her very presence in that world would hurt him. My guess is he is trying to stop her before she can do anything". After Gennai had explained all of this to the children, everyone turned their gaze towards Kari. "I could be wrong," Gennai continued after Kari still hadn't responded to his comments "he could be after something that we haven't even considered . What that may be is a mystery though". The room was once again filled with silence as the Digidestined allowed Gennai's words to sink in.

"It's getting late guys, we probably need to head home before our parents start asking questions" Davis said as the uncomfortable minutes became too much for him to handle. "Besides, we aren't going to do anyone any good if we're tired. Let's just go home and we'll meet up tomorrow. Maybe after some rest we'll be able to come up with something". The rest of the group nodded their agreement and began to get up and headed towards the door, each stopping for a moment to thank Gennai for his hospitality. Davis, Ken, Yolie and Cody left the room first, followed closely by Kari. However before she left, she noticed that TK and Patamon had stayed behind. "TK, are you not coming? Your mom is probably starting to worry".

"Yeah, I just thought I would see if any of the other Digimon might stop by. You know, just to warn them of what's happening" TK answered as he sat back down. " And I'm pretty sure my mom had to work late tonight so I wouldn't be too worried about her. You should go though, you need some rest. Go on, and I'll call you tonight, ok?" Kari hesitated for a moment, feeling very vulnerable after hearing what Gennai had said. Needless to say, the last thing she wanted was to go home alone. However, she knew what TK was doing was a smart thing to do, and she also felt secure enough in Gatomon to protect her from any potential dangers. "Alright TK, but promise me you'll call me when you get home ok?"

"Don't worry Kari, I promise" TK said, giving her a wide grin that somehow made her feel a little better. Kari nodded while also returning the smile, and left the room. As he watched her leave, TK felt a pang of guilt for not only lying to her, but also making her walk home alone, but he knew this was something he had to do. "So TK, what's the real reason why you stayed behind?" Gennai said after he ensured that the rest of the Digidestined entered the portal to return to the Real World. "You know I could've informed the others of what is happening, so why did you really stay behind?"

TK looked Gennai in the eye and began to speak in a stern and serious tone. "Gennai, I need you to do something for me, and you can't tell anyone about this, especially Kari".

"Hey, where are TK and Patamon?" Yolie asked as Kari emerged from the computer screen. "I thought he was right behind you". Kari looked around and saw that the gate had brought them back to the computer lab in their school, and all the children (except for Yolie) were busy making phone calls to their parents to explain their tardiness. Turning her gaze to Yolie, she said "He decided to stay behind and warn Agumon and the rest of the Digimon about Daemon. I guess he thought it would be a good idea if he gave them a little advance notice in case things start to get too bad.

"Well is he not going to walk you home tonight?" Yolie asked with a surprised tone. "I mean he always does, and after everything that's happened today…I just figured he wouldn't want you to be alone tonight". As she finished, Ken walked up beside her and put a hand on her shoulder. "You can't blame TK for trying to think ahead. Maybe we should just go with her. That is, if you don't mind Kari" he offered. "And besides, I'm sure TK wouldn't appreciate us just letting you go off alone".

"Really guys I'm ok. It's not like I haven't walked home by myself before. If you really want to than that's fine but I don't want to be a burden to anyone". Kari said as nicely as she could at the moment. "I know that I'm probably the one that Daemon is after, but I really doubt he'll come at us again this soon".

"What if you're wrong Kari?" Davis said, joining the conversation. "I'm not entirely sure that there is anything that could stop him from entering our world if he wanted to. So what reason does he have to wait? Don't you agree with me Cody?" As he said this, Cody closed his cell phone and took a position beside Davis. Turning to him, Cody said "I see your point Davis, but I think Kari is right about this. If Daemon could enter our world at any time, why has he waited this long, and why bother going to the Digital World first? He's probably trying to come up with a plan to try and get to Kari directly instead of having to fight the Sovereigns again. And I'm sure that they are as on guard as ever after what just happened". Davis looked ready to argue with Cody after he had finished, but decided against it as the words sunk in. "But," Cody continued "I think we would all agree that it is better to be overly-cautious than to be caught by surprise. That being said, I think it'd be best if we all went with Kari, just so we can be at full strength. We all know that you can take care of yourself, but this is Daemon we're talking about, and one small mistake could all of us killed".

Kari still had a doubtful look on her face as Cody finished; she really hated feeling like a burden for everyone else. She opened her mouth in order to try and convince them that this wasn't necessary, but before she could do this, Yolie said "If you're not going to let us do it for you, at least let us do it for TK. I'm sure he feels bad for not walking you home, and he'll probably feel a lot more comfortable knowing that we stayed with you".

A few moments passed and Kari took that time to consider what Yolie had said. She knew that what Yolie had said was true and she couldn't find it in herself to intentionally make TK more worried about her than he already was, despite the fact that this was the last thing she wanted her friends to do for her. Finally making up her mind, she said "Alright, you guys can go with me. Just let me send him an email, that way he won't have to keep worrying". She turned away from the others and began to type into her D-terminal, explaining to TK what was happening. Unbeknownst to Kari, Ken shot a quick smile to his girlfriend and mouthed "Nice job" to her. Likewise, Davis gave her a quick thumbs up and Cody just rolled his eyes while shaking his head.

Closing the device, Kari turned to the others and said "I guess we should get going now. It's almost dinner time and I'm sure Tai and my parents are starting to get worried about me". She walked over to Gatomon and picked up the cat-like Digimon, cradling her in her arms. Likewise, the rest of the Digidestined began to do the same. The children began to walk out of the room, first by Kari who was followed by Davis and Cody. Ken and Yolie were the last to leave the room, staying behind to quickly exchange some words. "So how did you know that bringing up TK would get her to say yes to us?" Ken asked after he was sure that Kari and the others were out of hearing range.

"Simple, when you like someone as much as Kari likes TK, you hate to be the reason why the other person is stressed. I knew she wouldn't do anything to make him worry any more than he already does" Yolie said with a sly smile. Ken couldn't help but laugh at Yolie's logic, and the fact that her logic seemed correct made it even more amusing. "Have I told how cute you are when you're right?" he said with a smile.

"Yeah, but you could stand to say it more" Yolie said while giving him a peck on the cheek. "Now let's go before she comes up with some excuse and tries to get rid of us".

Thanks for reading everyone and I hope you all have a Happy Thanksgiving. Please review and I'll see you next time.


	6. Day at the Beach

Hey everyone I hope you had a good Thanksgiving, and thanks again to all of you that reviewed. I'm glad you're enjoying it. Anyways, here's the next chapter which. For all of you wondering about what TK is up to don't worry, you'll see next chapter. Here though I just wanted to show him in a little bit lighter mood since he's been kinda serious most of this story. Enjoy.

**Disclaimer:**** I don't own Digimon**

"And class, please try to finish your project his weekend. I know that there may be many distractions, but this is going to be a big part of your grade so please don't take it lightly". Kari's teacher continued to lecture the class, although at this point Kari began to tune her out despite Kari's studious approach to school. However, she wasn't too worried about not listening to the teacher because her and TK had finished the project together a few days prior to the events with Daemon. So instead of trying to focus on the teacher, Kari closed her eyes and allowed herself a moment of rest. It had been three days since she and the other Digidestined had encountered Daemon, and in the days that followed, her anxiety continued to grow. _I wonder how TK is doing. He would never admit it, but I know this whole thing has him just as stressed out as I am_ Kari thought to herself as she looked at the spot beside her where TK was usually sat. However, today he was absent from that class because the coach had called an extra practice that was being held at that time. In fact, the practice had actually begun early that morning, resulting in Kari having to walk to school by herself this morning in order for him to make it to the school on time. Kari had to admit to herself that the fact that she didn't see TK that morning had thrown her off mentally. Maybe it was because of the situation with Daemon, or maybe it was the lasting effects of her dream, but she felt the need to be with TK every chance she had. And when she saw him less than she usually did, she just felt like something was missing.

Her thoughts were suddenly interrupted as the school's alarm went off, signaling that the period had ended. She immediately looked up to see several of her classmates quickly make their way to the door, eager to leave the classroom. Smiling at their need to escape what they would refer to as torture, Kari stood up and began to follow them out, but before she could reach the door her teacher stopped her. "Kari, would you mind waiting a moment? I would like to talk to you".

"Um, sure. Is something wrong?" Kari nervously asked as she walked up to the teacher's desk, all the while inspecting her to try and figure out what she wanted. The woman was middle-aged, Kari assumed she was somewhere in her mid-30's, with shoulder-length black hair and brown eyes. She wasn't especially tall, standing at around 5'9, but to Kari she seemed like a genuine person who cared for each of her students individually. "Well Kari, I just wanted to make sure everything was going ok with you" the teacher said conversationally. "Today in class you seemed very distant, almost like your mind was elsewhere. I know that Literature isn't exactly the most exciting subject in the world, but you've always been so studious. Is there anything bothering you?"

Kari hesitated before answering, trying to find a way to tell her the truth but not give away anything about the Digimon. "I just haven't getting a lot of sleep lately, you know just some bad dreams" she finally said.

"Do you want to talk about it? It's not good to keep everything to yourself you know. It's just going to eat you up and make things worse" the teacher said sincerely. Kari remained quiet as the teacher said this, making it obvious that it was a touchy subject for her and not something she wanted to tell to just anyone. "Have you talked to anyone about it?" the teacher continued after realizing that she was not the right person for Kari to talk about this with.

"Yeah a little" Kari nervously responded. "It's just…seems like this is something that I should keep to myself". As she said this, she turned her head to TK's desk. "It's almost like the person I want to tell most can't know about it".

"Why can't you tell TK about the dreams?" her teacher asked after she followed Kari's gaze to TK's seat. "You two seem very close; I honestly didn't think there was anything you two would keep from each other. Do you think it will make him angry?" Kari finally took her gaze off of the empty seat and returned her attention back to her teacher who was looking at her with a worried expression. "No, that's not why I haven't told him. I just feel like the less he knows about this the better it will be for the both of us".

"Look Kari, what you and TK have is special. Don't be afraid to tell him about whatever your dream is about" she said. "Let me ask you something, do you trust him?" Kari quickly nodded her head; she had no doubt in her mind that she trusted TK more than anyone else, even her brother. "Well then trust him to be rational about this whole thing. If not it's just going to put a strain on each of you, and that isn't going to help anyone, ok?"

"I know" Kari responded quietly. "I should probably get going, and I don't want to hold you up any longer. Thanks for checking on me though, and thanks for trying to help me". The teacher gave a small nod and a smile and walked Kari out of the classroom. "Have a good day Kari, and if you ever need to talk don't be afraid to come by, ok?"

"Alright I will. You have a good day too" Kari said back as she walked to her locker alone. Opening the locker, Kari began to exchange her books in preparation for her upcoming classes. After she had done this, she took her D-terminal out to see if she had received any emails, particularly from TK, but gave a small sigh when she saw that there were no new messages in her inbox. Putting the device into her backpack, she began to close her locker only to stop and stare at a picture that she and TK had taken just recently. In the picture, which was taken in Obadia Park only last summer, she was wearing a white spaghetti strapped shirt and pink shorts while TK wore a simple green shirt and blue basketball shorts. The two were on their knees smiling and hugging while staring at the camera, and she could see Patamon and Gatomon on the ground in front of them playing with each other.

Kari was taken out of her small trance as she heard the tardy bell ring overhead. Closing her locker, she quickly turned around so that she could hurry to her net class. However, before she could take a step she ran into someone and immediately fell to the floor. Recovering from the fall, Kari turned around and began said "I'm so sorry, are you ok?"

Her question was answered with a familiar laugh, and she heard a voice say "I think I'm the one that should be saying that to you Kari". She looked up to see TK, who easily managed to stay on his feet, and took his extended arm so that she could get up. He then began picking up all of the books that she had dropped and made no motion to return them to her. "I'll carry these for you. But aren't you running a little late? I thought the next period starts in about two minutes".

"Yea, I'm running a little behind" Kari said, giving him a weak smile. "Are you sure that you want to carry those? They're not that heavy so I can get it".

"Don't worry about it Kari. Besides I owe you for not walking with you this morning". Kari smiled at, in her opinion, thoughtful TK could and always was. Without realizing it, she gave him a small, cute smile that TK couldn't help but return with a big, goofy grin of his own. Though he would never admit it to anyone, her smile always put him in a better mood. Shortly after, the pair began to slowly make their way to their next class, all the while talking about how TK's practice had gone. "So anyways, how was Literature? Did you miss me?" he jokingly asked as they neared their class.

"Dream on TK" Kari responded rather cheerfully. "And as for Literature, I can't really tell you for sure how it went. Today was just…I don't know. It was just hard for me to stay focused long enough to learn anything today". Kari continued to walk, but was stopped by TK as he gently grabbed her hand and turned her around. "What do you mean you couldn't focus? Did you not get enough sleep last night?"

TK watched in worry as Kari gave a weak attempt at a smile and said "Yeah, I'm sure you can guess that sleep hasn't exactly come easily the past couple of days. And when it does, I always see…" Kari took a quick glance around to make sure that there was no one eavesdropping on their conversation and turned back to TK "…Daemon".

"Are you alright? Do you want to lie down?" TK asked her in a quiet voice, staring at her all the while.

"Do you want the truth?" Kari asked in a half-joking manner. TK turned his gaze towards the ground, not wanting to annoy Kari with his protectiveness even though he felt it was justified. "It's not really sleep that I want, what I really want is to find a way to take my mind off of all of this. All I want is to forget about Daemon and the Dark Ocean for a day and just be me. Not the Kari that Daemon wants to kill, but the Kari that is a 17-year old girl. I know I'm being a baby about all of this, but it's just so hard having to live in fear all the time".

After Kari told him this, TK looked up from the ground and nodded. "Alright Kari". Saying this, he looked into the classroom and saw that the teacher and all the students were already in their seats and were paying no attention to them. He then turned around and began to look down the halls and took note that there was not another teacher, principal, or other staff member in sight. "Come with me Kari" he quickly said as he took her hand and began to gently pull her down the hall with him.

"TK! What are you doing?" Kari whispered as they passed their classroom and headed towards the exit. His intentions suddenly began to dawn upon Kari as she realized what it was TK was trying to do. "TK! We can't skip school. If either of our parents find out then we'll get grounded! TK, are you listening to me?" she said slightly raising her voice, but still trying to be quiet enough so that no one would notice them.

Letting go of her hand, TK turned around and looked straight into Kari's eyes. "Kari, listen to me, you're not a baby. In fact, you're one of the bravest people I've ever known. But no matter how brave someone is, everyone needs help at some point… so let me help you Kari. I know that this won't exactly help you solve your problems, but at least let me make you feel better about it". Kari's eyes softened as TK said this in the most sincere tone she had ever heard him speak in and she couldn't help it when she began to tear up; no matter what, TK was always the one putting her first. She looked down and smiled as this thought passed her mind. Seeing this, TK reached out with his hand and said "Do you trust me Kari?"

She lifted her head and looked at TK's open hand. She gave a small laugh and nodded her head while also taking his hand, silently telling him yes. As she did this, TK's signature grin began to appear on his face, only this time a hint of mischief was there also. Kari returned his grin with a smile of her own, one that displayed the same attitude and excitement that TK was feeling, and the two friends quickly made their way out of the school building hand in hand.

"You know, when you said you had to make a quick stop, this isn't exactly what I had in mind" TK said at a door. Following their decision to miss the rest of school, the pair had decided that the best way to try and forget all of their troubles was to spend the remainder of the day at the beach. However, before they could reach their destination, Kari had insisted that they make one "small and quick" detour. "I mean this isn't exactly a special occasion, we're just going to the beach; it's not like you're trying to impress anyone. And why are you buying a new one? Don't you have one at home?"

"Yes I do have one at home TK. The only problem with that particular suit is that it is at my house and I really don't want to have to explain to my mom why I'm there and not at school" she said looking at herself in the mirror. She bit her lip as she did this, trying to decide whether or not this was something she wanted to buy. "I don't know about this one TK".

"Is it really that big of a decision? Just buy it so we can go". She heard TK respond. Kari slowly began to rotate, inspecting herself for any faults from every possible angle. After a few moments, she heard TK give a rather loud sigh and say "Well if you're so worried about it then just let me see it".

"What? TK, I'm not going to let you see me in this. And besides, it's not like you're an expert when it comes to clothing" Kari said after TK had told her to let him see her.

"What does it matter?" TK said casually. "Besides, I'm going to see you in one eventually so I don't know what you'd be so nervous about. And it's not like Yolie is here to give you her input so really I'm your best option".

"Well…" Kari nervously bit her lip, trying to decide whether or not she should show him. _Why am I so nervous to show him? It's not like we haven't gone swimming together before. But, _she thought as she looked down at herself once more_ I haven't exactly worn anything this…revealing. _"Alright TK, just promise me you won't laugh, ok?" She closed her eyes as she opened the door and stepped out of the dressing room and onto the open floor.

To say that TK was taken aback by the sight of Kari would've been a large understatement. In all honesty, TK thought she looked amazing. She was wearing a bikini that was a lighter shade of pink that he felt complemented her skin tone perfectly. He looked at her face and noticed that she was blushing as TK inspected her, and for a moment TK forgot it was his best friend that he was looking at. Instead, in that moment all he saw was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. "So TK, what do you think?"

"Wow" was all TK managed to say after a few more seconds of staring.

"Oh come on TK, be honest" she said as she started to cover herself up with her hands. Kari suddenly started to feel very aware of what she was wearing and blushed at the thought that TK was practically looking at her half-naked. "I think I'm just going to change out of this and try to sneak into my house and get the one I have there" she said as she began to step into the dressing room.

"No Kari, I'm being serious. You look great in that bathing suit" TK said after he recovered from his apparent "trance". Suddenly realizing what he had said, TK quickly followed his comment by saying "I mean you look really good in that; you should definitely buy it".

"I don't know TK" she said as she paused in the doorway. "I mean, this really isn't something that I would wear. I mean, you know me. I've never put anything like this on. And I'm pretty sure that there isn't anything you could say that would suddenly make me like this". Kari watched closely as TK's face slowly changed from an expression of deep thought into an expression of pure amusement. "What?" Kari asked as she noticed this, becoming more and more self-conscious as TK's face became plastered with a smile.

"How about this" TK said, "Tai would hate it". Upon hearing this, Kari began to giggle and was soon joined by TK. Looking down at herself, Kari suddenly lost all the negative thoughts she had about the bathing suit, and instead only one thought seemed to cross her mind _He really likes it…_

"I guess that is a good enough reason for me" she said happily while heading back into the dressing room. "Let me change so I can pay for this and then we can head out". Closing the door, Kari hurriedly changed back into her clothes as she became more and more excited about the upcoming day she was about to spend with only TK. She exited the dressing room a few moments later and was met by a waiting TK, who was holding a basket in one hand and a pair of swim trunks and two towels in his other hand. "What's all that for?" Kari asked when she noticed this.

"This is what I'm swimming in" TK said as he held up a blue and green pair of Hawaiian swim trunks "and I'm pretty sure that these are pretty self-explanatory" he finished holding up the two towels: one pink and one green. "And our lunch happens to be in here" he said as he held up the basket. "Hope you're in the mood for sushi and rice balls. And I already paid for your…um…bathing suit so we're all good to go".

"TK, why did-"

"I wanted to Kari" he said, cutting her off. For a moment, Kari considered arguing with him about his decision, but decided against it as she realized this was just TK being TK. So, instead of doing this, simply said "Thanks TK". Smiling, she walked to his side and patted his arm affectionately, causing both of the teens to blush.

"Let's get going Kari" TK said as he and Kari recovered. "We're just burning daylight right now". Kari nodded her agreement and the two exited the shop and made their way towards the beach. Their short walk to the beach was similar to their walks to school as it was filled with laughter and conversation. And their good time only continued when they entered the water. Completely oblivious to their surroundings, the two spent the day either splashing each other or searching for seashells together. Needless to say, the two teenagers easily forgot all of the worries of the past week and Kari got exactly what she needed: a day to just be a regular girl. To anyone who happened to be walking by, TK and Kari appeared to be the happiest couple that they had ever seen, especially when TK picked up Kari bridal-style and began to spin her around in the water. As he was doing this, Kari wrapped her arms around TK's neck and let her head hang backwards as she continuously laughed in both joy and embarrassment. After several hours, they slowly and grudgingly exited the water, heading towards the lunch basket and towels while laughing and shoving each other. When they had finally managed to sit down to eat, a small food fight began between the two, though neither was quite sure as to how it started or who started the fight, which resulted in half of their food ending up on the sand. When lunch, if one could call the small amount they ended up eating lunch, was finished, the friends decided to lie on the beach and together in a calm, tranquil state.

"Hey TK?" Kari said after lying together for several minutes in silence "Thanks for everything today" she quietly told the blonde as the two were laying on their respective towels following. She had gotten up and laid on her side so that she could face TK, and supported her head with her hand.

Laying on his back with his arms behind his head, TK turned so that his face faced Kari while still lying on his back and said nothing, only smiling. However, this small action said more to Kari than any words ever could. In that smile, Kari knew that TK didn't want to hear a thank you from her. Instead, she knew that all he wanted was for her to be happy, something he knew that he had done. TK returned to his position, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath, enjoying the beach air. Kari remained as she was though, taking the time to stare at TK. Doing this, she remembered all of the day's events starting from their escape from school, and she realized just how happy TK could so easily make her. Choosing to lay in a position on her stomach, she rested her head on her arms so that she could continue to look at TK, and she couldn't help but think to herself that despite there being some immensely powerful Digimon that could be plotting to kill her, being with TK in that very moment was the was the happiest she had ever been.

Thanks for reading. Please review.


	7. Relationships

Well everyone, sorry about how long this chapter took to come out. With the holidays came unforeseen problems, and I didn't have any internet access for the longest time. But, three weeks later I finally managed to finish and post this chapter so I hope you enjoy it. Before you start thought, I wanted to apologize since last chapter I told you that you'd find out what he was up to this chapter, but I decided to push that back to the next chapter, sorry. Oh, and I decided to underline the first line of each new scene to try and make the transition easier from scene to scene so please tell me what you think of that. Anyways, please enjoy and tell me what you think.

**Disclaimer:**** I don't own Digimon**

"So what did Yolie want the other day? Didn't you say that she wanted to see the both of us?" asked TK as he turned his head to face Kari. He and Kari had been sitting silently enjoying each other's company over the past few hours, with TK's question being the only words they had spoken to each other in some time.

"Oh, you know Yolie. She was just trying to be nosy" Kari responded with a laugh after turning to face TK. Still lying on her stomach, she began to flip over onto her back and took a position that was similar to TK's with both hands behind her head in order to support her head. "Don't worry about, you probably would've just laughed at it" she finished casually.

"Well if it isn't a bid deal then why don't you just tell me?" he responded sarcastically. TK moved into a position where he could face Kari by laying on his side and propping himself up with his left forearm so that he could speak directly with his brunette friend. "I mean don't you think that I have a right to know when _your_ friend is trying to pry into _my_ life?"

"Technically speaking, you were friends with her before me. And not to mention it was kinda your fault that we met so you really have no one else to blame for our predicament besides yourself" she shot back in a smart tone.

"Yeah, if only I had known back then…" TK muttered sarcastically to himself before redirecting his comment to Kari. "But seriously, what did she want?"

"I think she was trying to get me to convince you that you need to get a girlfriend" Kari said casually as she rose and sat upright, placing both of her arms behind her for support.

A confused look appeared on TK's face as Kari told him this simply because he could not fathom why Yolie would have the slightest interest in his love life, especially since she had been involved with Ken for so long. Sure she was a loving and sincere enough person, as showcased by her possession of the Digi-eggs of Love and Sincerity, but that still didn't seem to be a valid reason as to why she would try and talk to Kari about his love life. "What exactly did she say to you?"

"Um…" Kari said as she began to think about the conversation she had had with her violet haired friend. "Well, she started that conversation by asking me if you had a girlfriend, which I answered with a no, and then she asked why I thought that was".

"And what did you say to that?" he asked questioningly.

"Uh…well…" Kari began, trying to think of a way to make it sound as if she wasn't talking about him behind his back. "Look TK, don't be mad, but I told her my actual opinion. I just said that I think that you're scared that if you get into a relationship then it'll just turn out like your mom and dad". At this point, TK had lost all of the amusement that had been on his face just moments before. Kari knew that his parent's divorce was a touchy subject for him, but though she didn't want TK to have to talk about unwanted memories, she felt that lying to him would be much worse. "I mean I know it bothers you TK and I know that it always has, so I always just assumed that was the reason… Are you mad at me TK?" she asked in a worried tone while mentally hoping that this wasn't something that could possibly bring tension into their relationship.

The brunette began to run through various things she could say to TK in order to calm him down in her head, but none of them seemed to (at least in her mind) make TK be willing to talk to her about her and Yolie's conversation about him. Because of this, she was very surprised when she heard laughter, and even more surprised when she discovered that it was TK that began to laugh. A huge grin was on his face as he looked at her and asked "Why would I be mad about that?"

"Are…are you really not mad?" Kari asked hesitantly, as if trying to figure out if he was just playing with her. "I mean, I know that you like to keep personal things to yourself".

"I could never be mad at you Kari" TK said obviously while continuing to laugh. "Besides, it's not like it's a big deal. Yolie asked you a question, and you gave an honest thought and opinion. Relax Kari, its fine, really". He continued to smirk as he began to lie on his back once more, trying to enjoy the rest of their day together. Kari also joined him in this, smiling as she mentally slapped herself for ever thinking that something as simple as that could ever make TK angry. However, since this subject didn't seem to bother TK at all, she realized that there was one question that she wanted answered about the subject.

"Was I right TK? About your parents?" she asked, stopping herself before she was fully lying down and once again took an upright position.

TK sighed as he heard the question and also rose so that he could sit beside Kari. "What do you mean? Am I afraid to start a relationship with someone because I'm afraid that we'll just break up and end in a divorce?"

Kari nodded at his question and waited patiently for his response. She watched TK as he released another small sigh and ran his hand through his hair while also turning his gaze to the ocean as he thought about the question. Finally, he said "Maybe that was the reason before, but not anymore". He turned his head and faced his best friend of over ten years and smiled as he continued. "If you would've asked me that a few years ago, I think that the answer would've been yes. But now,…You know, I never would've thought that Matt and Sora would've ever ended up together. I mean, Matt was always kind of a loner and never really opened up to anyone. And Sora was the complete opposite. But seeing them together, and more importantly seeing them happy, it just makes me feel that anyone can get it right, including me". He paused to see if Kari wanted to say anything and looked to see kind, tender eyes staring back at him.

"Of course you can get it right TK. Any girl would be lucky to have you. I mean just look at you. You're smart, funny, athletic, and everyone in school thinks that you should be a professional model" Kari said in a half-joking manner. "TK, if this is something that you think you're ready to pursue, then you should go for it. I mean it's not like you have a lack of choices".

TK laughed at Kari's last remark, after all he couldn't imagine himself choosing from a long line of girls. "You know, when I asked Matt why he considered Sora the right girl for him, all he told me was that I'll never truly know until the time is right and the girl for me is standing right in front of me. And when that happens, there won't be a doubt in my mind who the right girl for me is". He slowly turned his head and met Kari's eyes, giving a small, soft smile which she automatically returned. "So I guess I'm just waiting for the right person for me to come along".

"What do you think she'll be like?"

"You" TK said almost immediately, shocking Kari as she thought that TK meant that they should be together. Seeing her reaction, TK gave a small chuckle and continued. "No Kari, I don't mean that you and I are supposed to be like that. I mean I like the way we are, and becoming more than friends would just be…I just don't think we've ever thought about each other in that way. Plus your brother would take my head off". He paused for a moment to allow him and Kari to share a laugh before continuing his explanation. "What I meant was that, I couldn't imagine myself spending all my time with someone who wasn't like you. You know me better than anyone else and I feel comfortable with you. I guess what I'm trying to say is, when you go off and find another guy, I'm going to get lonely. So whoever I end up dating, I would just want them to be like you in the sense that I can be around them all the time and not think anything else about it".

"TK, just because we may start a relationship with other people doesn't mean that our friendship would just go away. You know that I could never throw away the bond we have, not after everything we've been through together" Kari said sincerely.

"It wouldn't really be your choice" he responded quietly. "Kari, there's a reason why Davis was a jerk to me at first when I first met him. He liked you and he thought we were too close to be just friends. And we've only gotten closer since then. The next guy in your life or the next girl in my life won't really feel comfortable with all the time we spend together; they'll want us to see each other less and less. And if that particular someone is the one that you want to spend the rest of your life with, then that's just a sacrifice that we'll have to make".

Kari knew that what he was saying couldn't be closer to the truth, but for some reason she couldn't ever imagine spending less time with TK. She felt that if that were to ever happen, she'd be losing a part of herself, a piece of her that had been with her since she was eight. "So those dates I occasionally go on, were you jealous, were you scared?"

"I'm always scared I'll lose you Kari, and I'd do anything to keep you safe" he said as he thought about all the battles they had fought together and the battles that they would soon face together. "And as far as being jealous, every time you've gone on a date I've been a little jealous".

"What? Why?" Kari asked in a shocked tone. "Why would you be jealous of one date?"

"Because, that one date could be the way you meet the right guy for you. And.., I was jealous that someone else was spending time with the most amazing person I know. I guess I just got the idea into my head that this would keep happening and I would lose you. But, I guess that's just the way things have to be".

"You know it might not work out like that" Kari responded after she thought about what TK had said. "Not that I want this to happen to either of us, but we might not ever find the right person for us. It's a big world after all. Maybe the right person is in America and we'll never see them".

"Well if that happens that puts us into a little predicament doesn't it?" he said with a smirk. Kari gave him a questioning look, which TK responded to by saying "Hey, how about this? If we both turn 30 and neither of us find the one by then or aren't in a serious relationship at that time, how about we just get married?"

"Really TK? Get married when we're thirty?" Kari said as a smile quickly formed on her face. "Doesn't' that seem kinda cliché-ish?"

"I thought you always liked clichés" he answered as his signature grin began to appear on his face. "You've got to admit though, at that point we don't really have anything to lose".

Kari looked down and smiled as she considered TK's "offer". "Alright TK," she said as she looked back into his eyes, "if we're thirty and still available, we'll get married". She stuck out her right hand with her pinkie extended, wanting to have TK make her a pinkie promise that he would do what he said. Smiling, TK followed Kari's lead and intertwined his pinkie with hers while sarcastically saying "You know Tai's going to kill me if he ever finds out about this right?"

"I wouldn't let him" she responded. "And besides, it's not like he can look out for me forever. Plus, I doubt he'd ever have a problem with you. You're practically the little brother he never had".

"Yeah I guess I am" TK said thoughtfully. "Speaking of which, how has he been about the whole…well you know?"

"As good as he can be I guess". At the mention of Daemon, Kari curled her legs up to her chest and held them close, as if trying to keep herself warm. "I mean obviously he's always telling me not to go anywhere alone, and he even considered skipping his classes so that he could stay with me. And when I told him that you weren't going to be able to walk with me today, he almost had a panic attack. I guess if the situation were reversed I'd do the same thing, so I can't really get mad at him for just trying to protect me".

"Does he have any ideas about what we should do?"

"No…He said that he might try to get everyone together and go talk to Gennai about the whole thing, so I'm guessing that will happen eventually. Hopefully we'll be able to figure it out and soon".

"Yeah, hopefully" TK said rather skeptically. A rare silence passed between the two friends as they sat on the sandy beach and looked towards the ocean, each trying to think of the best thing to do at that point. After several silent minutes had passed, TK's D-terminal suddenly went off, notifying him that he had just received an email. Reaching into his bag, he opened the device and read his new message. When he finished reading it, a scowl appeared on his face and he closed the device, facing Kari as he forced an apologetic look onto his face. "Sorry Kari, but I'm gonna have to get out of here. Looks like my grandma decided to pay us a surprise visit so my mom wants me to get home to spend dome time with her".

"Oh, ok… She really didn't give you any sort of notice? That doesn't seem like something she'd do" Kari said, thinking back to all the times that she had met TK's grandmother. Based off of those experiences, the elderly woman didn't strike her as someone who would just barge into someone's lives without a second thought.

"Well she probably had meant to tell us that she was coming today, but I guess she just forgot" he responded as casually as possible. "But anyways, can I walk you home real quick?"

"No TK, its fine. I'm sure you're mom wants you back now so that you can see your grandma" she said with a smile. "I can just call Tai to pick me up since he should be getting out of class right about now. Thanks for offering though".

"What are you going to tell Tai about being at the beach?" he questioned. "I mean I'm sure he's not going to be very happy if you tell him that you ditched school to go spend a day at the beach with me. And if he tells your parents…let's just say I don't want you to get grounded because of me".

"You worry too much TK" Kari answered with a smile. "Tai probably wouldn't think twice about why I was at the beach instead of school. And we always keep things from our parents, so I wouldn't worry about me getting in any trouble. But," Kari continued as she noticed that TK's worried expression never left his face "if it makes you feel, I'll just tell him I came to pick up a new bathing suit and asked you to come with me. From there, I'll just tell him the truth and say you had to leave before we were finished to see your grandmother. Is that alright?"

"Yeah, I guess that'll work" TK said hesitatingly. "I'm sorry again for having to leave early, but I'll give you a call later, ok?" After Kari nodded her head towards TK, the two shared a hug that lasted for a few seconds longer than their hugs usually did. In fact, to Kari it seemed that TK didn't want to let go of her; it was almost as if he was scared that this might be the last time he saw her. "TK, is everything alright?" she said in a worried tone.

"Yeah, I am" he said quietly while releasing the hug. Taking a step back, he once again spoke, speaking this time in a very sad tone "I'm just really sorry Kari".

"TK, it's ok. Don't worry so much about. Just go, I'll be fine. I promise" she said with s small smile. TK returned her smile with one of his own, though in comparison his was very weak, and said goodbye to Kari before making his way back to his home. For a moment Kari considered following him, just to make sure that he was ok, but decided against it as she convinced herself that TK wouldn't lie to her about anything. Sighing, se took out her phone and began to dial Tai's number so that he could pick her up form the beach.

"Well that's pretty convenient that I was on my way home when you called, especially since TK had to run home" Tai said as Kari buckled herself into the passenger seat.

"Yeah" she said while sighing. "I really wish he could've stayed longer though".

"And why's that?" Tai asked while giving her a questioning look despite the fact that he was already driving.

"I guess the world just seems like a brighter place when he's around" she answered while looking up into the sky. "I mean, he's almost always in a good mood and he just always finds the right way to make me feel better, no matter what the situation is".

"And that's why you skipped school to go enjoy a day at the beach with him?" Tai said, causing Kari to immediately snapped her head and gazed at her.

"How di-"

"C'mon Kari, I know I'm not exactly Sherlock Holmes but you've got to give me some credit" he jokingly answered before Kari could complete her question. "And before you ask, no I'm not going to tell mom and dad. I know you've been under a lot of stress lately and if anyone needs a day off, it's definitely you. But seriously, you can't go run off on dates in the middle of the day and not tell anyone" he finished jokingly.

Kari's face began to turn into a light shade of red as she blushed upon hearing her brother call her afternoon with TK a "date". "It wasn't a date Tai" she finally managed to say.

"Right, and Joe doesn't spend enough time in his books studying" Tai jokingly mumbled to himself. "Anyways, I'm actually glad you called. I was going to get you so that we could go to Izzy's house. But now that I have you we mind as well head over there now".

"Wait, why are we going to Izzy's house?" she asked.

"We're having a meeting about…well you know. From the way all of you made Daemon sound, it's going to take all of us to take him down before he starts making a mess of things, or worse. I've already talked to everyone about the situation, so the whole group should be there except for Mimi and Joe, both of whom have fairly obvious reasons for not going. Oh, and I guess TK won't be there now either, but that's ok. This was more of a planning meeting anyways. And I think we might go see Gennai after, just to get his input on the entire situation".

"Joe has another test?" Kari asked in a sarcastic manner.

"Yep, and I'm sure Mimi's parents aren't going to fly her back to Japan just for one meeting with a bunch of teenagers".

Kari gave a faint laugh at her older sibling's poor attempt at a joke and continued to sit in silence until a thought suddenly occurred to her. "Wait, Matt's going? I thought he was going to be with TK since it's his grandmother too".

"Hmm, I didn't think about that" Tai said as he thought about the question. "I mean, we had talked right before you called and said that he'd meet up with us at Izzy's apartment, but he might've not looked at his e-mail yet. Either way, I guess we'll know when we get to the meeting. Like I said, this is a more informative meeting than anything else" he finished casually.

Kari simply nodded her head at Tai's response, despite the bizarre nature of the situation. To her, it only seemed logical that Matt wouldn't be at the meeting since his grandmother was in town and this meeting didn't appear to be a matter of life-and-death. _Don't worry about it Kari, it's not as if it means anything. If he's there then TK was probably just too much in a hurry to get home to e-mail Matt about it_. With this thought in mind, Kari leaned her head back against the seat's headrest and closed her eyes, trying to mentally prepare herself for the nightmare she would soon have to deal with.

TK walked into his and his mother's apartment and set his bag down beside the front door. "Hello? Mom are you home?" he shouted as he walked both through the living room and the kitchen to see if he could spot his mom. After thoroughly inspecting each area, he began to walk towards his bedroom while pulling his green D-3 digivice out of his pocket.

"Patamon? Are you awake pal?" TK asked as he entered his room and found the rookie-level Digimon lying on the bed.

"Yeah TK, I have been for awhile" the guinea pig-like Digimon responded as he stood up on all four of his legs and looked at his partner. "Is it time?"

"Yeah buddy, it is. Are you ready?" TK asked in a very solemn tone. Patamon nodded his head at the question and jumped on TK's computer desk just at TK reached it. He quickly began to type on the keyboard, opening a very particular program that he had used almost on a daily basis years ago. "Are you sure about this TK?"

"I've never been more sure about anything in my life Patamon. This is something we have to do".

"OK," the little Digimon said. "I'm with you TK".

He gave his partner a small smile, trying to show his gratitude for all the support he had given him. Turning back to the computer, he finished his typing and stared as the program finished loading. "Alright buddy, here we go". TK raised his green digivice and pointed at the, which immediately began to light up as it reacted with the device. "Digiport open!" A white light engulfed both TK and Patamon and moments later the room was entirely empty.

Thanks for reading and I hope all of you enjoyed your holidays. Please review and I'll see you next time.


	8. TK's Lie

**Hey everyone, let me start out by saying that I am really sorry it took me a month to post this, but in my defense I haven't had internet access for the past two weeks. So as said in the last chapter, you're going to find out what TK is up to so I hope you all like it. Thanks and enjoy.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon**

"Why are you so worried?" Sora asked with obvious concern. The red-haired teenager turned to face her obviously troubled boyfriend as she tried to think about what could possibly have Matt so worried. Sure there was an extremely powerful Digimon that was after their close friend's little sister, but this situation wasn't new to them. In addition to that, she was confident that with the combined power of the older Digidestined and the newer group, they'd be able to take care of this threat with ease.

"Huh?" Matt responded, snapping out of his daze. "Sorry, what did you say Sora?"

Sighing, Sora took her boyfriend's hand with one of her own, and used the other to gently make the blonde face her. "Listen to me Matt, you said it yourself that this was strictly an informative meeting. We're not going to go off and fight any evil Digimon, at least not yet. So relax, ok? Everything is going to be ok, and nothing is going to happen".

"Yeah, I'm sure you're right" he responded with a half smile. "I just can't shake this feeling that whoever this Daemon is, he's going to be worse than the Dark Masters" he reluctantly admitted to his red-haired girl friend. "And if he really is after Kari,… I just have a bad feeling about this whole thing".

"We can't jump to any conclusions yet Matt" Izzy casually said from his computer desk. The red-haired genius was facing his computer, typing an email to one of his close acquaintances. The three friends were all huddled up in Izzy's room waiting for the remainder of the Digidestined (save for Joe and Mimi) to meet for their meeting. "And besides, Kari can handle herself, not to mention I'm sure that all of us would be more than ready to defend her" he finished, turning around so that he could face Matt and Sora.

"That's what I'm worried about Izzy" Matt said quietly. His response brought confused looks to both Sora and Izzy, prompting Matt to elaborate on his response. "I'm not worried about Kari. With all of us and our Digimon, I know we're unstoppable. What I'm really worried about is TK. Look, both of you know how TK and Kari are. They're just…I don't know how to explain it" he sighed while scratching his head. "We all know how close they are. And I know how far TK will go to protect someone; I know he's going to do whatever he thinks he has to do to protect someone, especially if that someone is Kari… I'm scared he's not going to be thinking rationally as long as Kari is in danger".

"You've got to give him a little credit Matt" she said softly while rubbing his arm. "I know it's only natural that you're worried about him, but I think he's smart enough do the right thing".

"Yeah Matt, he's grown up a lot since the first time we went to the Digital World" Izzy added, doing his best to both support Sora and ease Matt's anxiety. "Out of all of the Digidestined, he's the one with the most experience. He's not a little kid anymore; you have to be able to trust him".

"I know you guys are right but…Have you seen the way he looks at her? Or the way she looks at him?" he asked. "TK can say that he and Kari are just friends all he wants, but I know that there's something more there. He loves her. Maybe not the way that I love you Sora, but I know that he cares about her more than anything. And I also know that he'd gladly lay his life on the line if that meant Kari would be safe. It's just in his nature".

The three friends sat in silence after hearing what Matt had said, letting his words sink in. Both Sora and Izzy knew that Matt's statements couldn't have been closer to the truth because they both had watched TK and Kari grow up almost as if they were their own siblings. Each had seen and witnessed the bond the two teens shared and it was evident that one would sacrifice themselves for the good of the other without a moment's hesitation. "Don't worry Matt, I promise you they're going to be safe. Both of them" Sora finally said, squeezing Matt's hand in the process.

"And I wouldn't underestimate him. Even if he were to do something reckless, he's surprised us a few times with what he's been able to accomplish" Izzy added, also doing his best to lighten the mood in the room. "Plus, no matter what situation he might get himself into with Daemon, I'm sure he'll have Patamon right beside him. Based off my research, I've gotten some information about Daemon. He's a demonic, virus-type Digimon, making anyone of Patamon's stronger levels more affective against Daemon than any of our Digimon. In all honesty, he might be the ideal person to fight Daemon if we had to fight him one-on-one".

"No one is going to be fighting Daemon on their own". All three of the older children's snapped their heads at the sound of a new voice as they entered the room. "We're going to fight Daemon together. That's when we'll be the strongest" Tai finished as he and Kari took a seat beside each other on Izzy's floor. "And I refuse to lose one of us".

"We weren't talking about who should fight Daemon on their own Tai" Izzy began, "we were just talking about-"

"TK probably has the most affective Digimon for Daemon Tai" Matt butted in, cutting off Izzy before he could continue. "We just think he would realize that and that he might try and take matters into his own hands". Matt shot a nervous glance at Kari, which thankfully she didn't notice, before turning back to Tai who was also giving Kari a sideways glance. Like Matt, Tai understood the special relationship that existed between the two teenagers, and he knew exactly what Matt was afraid of. Both boys knew the great lengths TK would go to accommodate Kari, and both also knew that it was most likely a bad idea to allow Kari to become aware of this.

"But he has a good head on him" Sora chipped in, quickly catching onto what her two friends were trying to avoid. "He's smart enough to know not to be that irrational. We were really just talking about battle strategies".

"Hmm" Tai muttered quietly. "Well like we said before, this is an informative meeting; we're not here to pick a fight. Maybe we can start talking about battle strategies, but all I really care about is all of us getting to talk to Gennai".

Sitting by the window, Izzy shifted his attention outside and said "Looks like everyone's here- Hey, where's TK?" Izzy asked. He had seen the rest of the Digidestined pull up in Ken's car, but was surprised to see that TK was not among the group.

"What?" Matt asked, joining his genius friend at his window.

"I guess he forgot to tell you" Kari said, slightly confused at Matt's reaction. After Matt had turned to face Kari, she continued. "Apparently your grandma came down for a visit today, it sounded like a real last minute thing. Anyways, your mom wanted him to come home right after she found out. I thought he would've let you know though".

"My grandma's in town?" Matt asked in surprise. "That doesn't really seem like something she would just forget to mention" he finished suspiciously.

"Well like I said, it was really last minute. I mean he just found out maybe 30 minutes ago" Kari continued to explain.

"Yeah, I'm sure he was just in a hurry" Tai added. "But if you want to go see her that's fine".

"No, I'm already here, and she's not going to leave so soon after coming. I'll stay and see her tonight. Thanks though" Matt finished after a moment's hesitation.

"Alright" Tai said, giving Matt a small nod. "Izzy, go ahead and get the portal ready, that way we can leave as soon as Davis and the others get here. Hopefully Gennai will be able to tell us some information that will help us stop Daemon before he gets out of control".

TK and Patamon emerged from a TV, the same TV that he and the other Digidestined used to reach their most recent battle. The blonde boy took a moment to look around a take note of the surrounding landscape. There were many burn marks across the land, no doubt from Daemon's immense energy blasts that had occurred only days ago. "TK, do you have any idea when it is supposed to happen?" Patamon asked his partner while beginning to hover next to his head.

"Soon buddy, I'm sure it'll happen any minute now" he responded solemnly. "C'mon, we should probably get a little closer to where it actually happened the first time. With any luck, that's where it's going to happen again".

"Should I go ahead and Digivolve?"

"Not yet Patamon" he said after thinking on the matter. "There's no point in using your energy just waiting. No, for now we'll just wait for the right time".

"Hello Digidestined! It's good to see all of you again, well at least most of you" Gennai told the children upon seeing them. The old man gave a smile to all of the children and greeted each one of them before leading into his home, where the children's Digimon were eagerly waiting for them.

"Agumon! How are you pal? I haven't seen you in weeks!" Tai said enthusiastically upon seeing his partner. Though he was unaware of it, the rest of the Digidestined and their Digimon were having similar moments except for the newer children who had seen their partners just days before. The orange, reptile-like Digimon jumped into his partners arms, hugging the brown-haired leader and making him laugh. "How have you been Agumon? Staying out of trouble I hope?"

"Are you joking Tai? There hasn't been any trouble since Malomyotismon. I'm actually beginning to get really bored. In fact, it's almost a relief that we get to fight someone else" the small dinosaur responded jokingly.

"All in good time pal" Tai said, smiling at his partner's enthusiasm. "But right now we're going to be smart about it and try to come up with a plan. But," he continued, " when the time comes we'll make him look silly".

"That may be, but you'll have to be smart about it. Especially since this foe is unlike any you've faced before" Gennai said, talking a place beside Tai. "I assume that is why you had Izzy email me so we could meet".

"Yeah Gennai, we were hoping to talk with you to see if you knew anything about Daemon that might be able to help us" Izzy said, taking a seat were he stood. "Tentomon remembered that you had some knowledge on ancient things, and I'm sure it took Daemon quite a bit of time to become as powerful as he is".

"Tentomon was right" Gennai answered referring the red, bug Digimon that Izzy held. "However, I must admit that I am limited in the amount that I know. I will gladly tell you everything I know about Daemon, but know that it is very unlikely that I will be able to answer all of your questions. Even the Sovereigns do not know much about Daemon, only that he is extremely powerful and very dangerous".

"Does he have any weaknesses?" Davis immediately asked before any of the other children could say anything.

"Only that of any other evil, virus type Digimon. Angelic Digimon will prove to have the most effective attacks on Daemon" Gennai answered. "However, I'm sure those attacks may not be as effective as you are accustomed to".

"What do you mean?" Ken asked. "I mean, when we were fighting Blackwargreymon, Magnaangemon almost beat him by himself. Not even all of our Digimon combined could do that. I just don't see how Daemon would be any different".

"It is more of a theory than anything else, but based off my archives, I have come to the belief that Daemon was not always an evil Digimon" the old man said solemnly.

"What do you mean?" Kari asked. "He digivolved into an evil Digimon?"

"You could say that. Daemon's powers seem…Tell me Ken, when you fought Daemon, how affective was he against Imperialdramon?" Gennai asked.

Though he was initially caught off guard, he quickly responded "Imperialdramon was able to hold him off long enough for us to open a portal. But honestly, I'm not entirely sure that in a one-on-one battle he would be able to fight Daemon for very long, even if he was in his fighter mode. If he took one direct hit then I think he would've been done for. But what does that have to do with anything?"

"Imperialdramon basically had the power of an entire Digicore when he battled Daemon". Gennai closed his eyes and sighed, appearing to be trying to gather his thoughts. "There aren't many Digimon that are able to overpower a Digicore. And one type of Digimon that is able to do that is a fallen-angel Digimon".

"You mean like Devimon?" Sora suddenly asked, her thoughts beginning to drift back to the first evil-Digimon she had ever faced. At this thought, Sora picked up Biyomon for comfort and held her close. The pink-bird Digimon looked up at her partner in confusion, but quickly realized what was going on in her partner's head.

"No, Devimon is a demonic Digimon" he said with another sigh. "Though they are closely similar, a demonic Digimon goes through a natural evolution. However, a fallen-angel Digimon began on its natural evolution stage in which it eventually digivolves into an angel-type Digimon; however, they eventually succumbs to the powers of darkness and takes on a new form".

"So…so you're saying an Angewomon can fall under the influence of darkness and…turn evil?" Kari asked nervously, taking a sideways glance at Gatomon. "How is that possible?"

"No one is sure Kari" he responded. "All of you have to understand, this is but a theory. Perhaps I am wrong, but I am unsure of what else might cause him to be so powerful".

The group sat in silence for several moments, trying to comprehend exactly what Gennai was getting out. "So you don't think Magnaangemon or Angewomon would be as effective against Daemon as they normally would against evil Digimon?" Matt said, breaking the silence. Beside him, a wolf-like Digimon that stood on two legs and had a horn protruding from its forehead. Shifting sitting positions, Gabumon began to say "I'm sure all of us together will be able to defeat him Matt. We won't have to solely rely on TK or Kari".

"Gabumon is right, together all of you are much more powerful than you can imagine" the old man responded. "And the answer to your question Matt is that I don't know. They may be more effective because of it, but we can't know for sure".

"Guys, I don't think it's a good idea for TK to fight Daemon" Kari said quietly to the group.

"Why not?" Tai asked suspiciously. "Obviously we don't want him fighting alone, but I think all of us here know that he's going to be our best chance at beating Daemon".

"Tai…we can't. We can't let him fight Daemon, at all. I won't let him" she said with a stern voice. "We'll have to find a way to beat Daemon without TK's help".

"Kari, why are you so worr…What are you not telling us?" Tai asked as he recognized the guilt Kari was trying to hide. The teen girl shook her head in response to the question, prompting Tai to continue to continue to pressure her. "Kari, whatever you know you have to tell us. If we're going to stop Daemon then we can't start fighting him when we're not being completely honest with each other".

Kari continued to hesitate while also glancing at Matt, only to see him staring at her with a hard glaze. "Kari," he began "if this is something about TK then you have to tell us. You know that if you really wanted to protect him then all of us are going to have to know what you know. Kari please, you have to tell us what's happening".

Kari took a short breath and gave a small nod to Matt, and took another moment to gather her thoughts before she began. "Matt, I…I had a dream. Tai, do you remember the morning when I was acting funny?" Kari began. She waited for Tai to nod in acknowledgement, and when he did she began to continue. "Only TK knew, but that night I had a dream that Daemon had come back. And the next day it came true".

"What else?" Tai asked. Kari gave Tai a questioning look, wondering how he could've known there was more to her dream. "I know that look Kari" he told her before she could ask how he knew there was more to her dream. "I know when you're trying to hide something. And if your dream came true then we need to know everything about it or else things are only going to get worse. You can't try to handle this on your own Kari; you need us. You need to let us help you".

"I'm not the one that needs help" she quietly said, only making her voice loud enough so the others could just hear her. "I might be the one that Daemon is after, but…I'm not the one he's going to hurt. He had…I guess he digivolved. I mean it looked like him, only different. And he had TK…We tried to stop him but…"

"But what?" Matt demanded after Kari had trailed off. His voice was a filled with a mixture of worry and venom. "Why did Daemon have TK? What was he going to do?" Matt said sternly, clearly demanding that Kari answer his questions.

"Daemon…he…he killed TK. He made all of us watch and murdered him in front of all of us" Kari said in a frightened tone that made it evident everyone that she feared if she said it out loud then it would come true. "I know TK might be the most ideal person to have to fight Daemon, but we can't take that risk. We can't let Daemon kill TK".

"All of you must leave now!" Gennai said suddenly, startling all of the children. "You must hurry. I've made a grave mistake and you must correct it",

"Gennai what are you talking about?" Davis asked, confused about Gennai's sudden outburst.

"It's TK. If what Kari said was true then I may have put his life at risk" he answered quickly. "The last time you were here, TK stayed behind to speak with me. He wanted me to give him a program that would allow a computer to trace energy surges that are generated by the opening of portals. He told me that he wanted to keep it with him in case he needed to gather all of you quickly".

"Ok so what's wrong with that?" Yolie questioned.

"I didn't notice it before, but a portal-like reading was detected only an hour ago, meaning that if it is Daemon coming from the Dark Ocean, he will enter the Digital World in a matter of minutes. And if TK can't get a hold of any of you he may try and fight Daemon on his own".

"Right! Gennai tell us where he is and we'll go there right - Kari what's wrong?" Tai began but stopped upon noticing the look of fear that was etched on Kari's face.

"TK…his grandma didn't come…" Kari whispered as she slowly put two and two together.

"What do you mean? We don't have time for this Kari" Tai said in annoyance.

"Tai, TK and I were together all day" she began. "And then he had to go because his grandma supposedly made a surprise visit. That was an hour ago".

"And he's the only one Gennai gave the program to" Matt said as he came to the same conclusion as Kari had.

Hearing this, Tai closed his eyes and tried to figure out what was so important about everything that TK had done that day when it suddenly hit him. "TK wanted to do it by himself. He went to go fight Daemon".

A portal began to open in front of TK, who only glared at the one who began to come out. "Alright Patamon, it looks like it's show time. Get ready to digivolve".

"Just give me the word" the flying Digimon said with a stern voice, hovering beside his partner. After a few seconds the portal fully formed and began open, allowing a red-robed being to step into the Digital World. He laughed as he took a few steps forward, getting within a few feet of TK and Patamon.

The human and his partner stared at the demon that stood before them, both trying to see any opening that might allow them to gain an advantage over the Digimon. "So, you think you can stop me alone?" the evil Digimon began to say. "That was very foolish of you, and now…now it is time to meet your fate" Daemon said with an evil laugh.

**So, what'd you think. Hope you enjoyed it and I'll be sure to be faster about my postings. Please review and I'll see you next time.**


	9. TK's Battle

**Let me start off by saying thanks to everyone who liked the last chapter. I'm glad to know that a) all of you weren't too peeved about the REALLY late update and b) most of you didn't mind TK's little decision to go solo on this one. Originally, I planned on making this one chapter, but I came to the decision to split it into two, which I'll talk about a little in the end. But for right now, I hope you enjoy this next chapter.**

**Disclaimer:**** I don't own Digimon**

"So, you think you can stop me alone? That was very foolish of you, and now…now it is time to meet your fate" Daemon said with an evil laugh.

"I'm not going to let you hurt Kari. And you shouldn't be so confident, we've stopped you before" TK responded defiantly.

"How ironic" the evil Digimon said with a hint of amusement. "Out of all the chosen children, it seems like a cruel joke of fate that it is you who has come to battle me".

"What is that supposed to mean?" he asked, his tone a mixture of anger and confusion.

"Foolish boy, you don't even know what it is that you're fighting for" he answered with a sneer. "You're so obsessed with protecting your precious Kari that you are blinded as to what is really happening. You boy are pathetic".

"You're not going to fool me Daemon! What do you want with Kari? What does she have to do with your plans?" TK demanded as his anger continued to grow. Daemon's only response was more laughter, prompting TK to take action. "I've had enough of this. We came here to stop you and that's exactly what we're going to do". Turning to Patamon, TK began to pull out his digivice and pointed it at his partner and said "Alright buddy, let's finish this".

"Right" Patamon said, taking a place beside TK. Almost instantly TK's green D-3 began to glow, emitting a light so bright that Daemon had to cover his eyes. Simultaneously, Patamon became surrounded by a sphere of light, and soon he began to change form.

"Patamon digivolve to…Angemon!"

"Angemon digivolve to…MagnaAngemon!"

The light that had surrounded Patamon just moments before began to fade, and within seconds it had entirely disappeared, revealing Patamon's Ultimate form. The powerful Digimon strongly resembled a priest as he had a tall purple helmet that bore the Crest of Hope on it. He was clothed in white clothing that seemed to shine, almost as if it were made of silver, and he had eight majestic wings that had the same appearance as his clothing. A long golden loop that had ancient writing on it surrounded his body that was complemented by a golden bracelet on his right arm.

Daemon looked over Patamon's new form and, upon seeing it, Daemon said "I must admit, the power which you have given your partner is very impressive boy". He continued to inspect the angel Digimon, taking note of what TK was capable of doing. "Yes, that is most impressive".

"Daemon, you have continued to upset the balance of both worlds. You must stop now before it is too late to reverse the harm you've done" MagnaAngemon told the evil Digimon.

Laughing, Daemon said "No, if you want this to end, then you're going to have to stop me yourself".

"Very well then Daemon, you have left me no choice". With that, a purple beam shield appeared on MagnaAngemon's left arm, and the golden bracelet on his right wrist released the purple beam sword Excalibur. "Now Daemon, justice will be dealt to you".

"Gennai, where was the power surge at?" Matt demanded while standing up.

"It appears to be forming in the same area Ken said they fought last time" Izzy quickly said before Gennai had a chance to respond. The red-head was already typing on his laptop, no doubt trying to pinpoint the exact location of Daemon. "I think the power surge is slightly interfering with my tracker because I can't seem to get an exact location".

"What about TK's digivice?" Yolie asked. "We should be able to track him through his digivice just fine right?"

"Good thinking Yolie, just give me a minute and I can- There he is!" Izzy exclaimed ecstatically. "Looks like Gennai was right, TK is in the same place where Yolie and the others fought them originally. And if that's where TK is than Daemon is bound to be right there too".

"Then we don't have any time to waste" Matt quickly said as he went to the door while also pulling out his digivice. "Gabumon, you'll have to digivolve so we can get there faster".

"Wait Matt, we're all going. You're not going to fight him on your own" Tai said, getting up and joining his friend at the door.

"Tai, we don't have time. Garurumon will travel faster than any of the other Digimon and TK needs help now. The rest of you can catch up" Matt defiantly said.

"Matt you have to be smart about this" Tai responded. "Garurumon isn't going to be much help to TK alone. We need to do this as a team".

"If you two are done arguing then maybe we can get to TK faster". Davis stepped in front of the two older boys, and was followed closely behind by Ken and their Digimon. "You're right Matt, Garurumon is faster than all of our Digimon, except for one".

"And lucky for you Tai" Ken said with a smirk, "he's big enough for all of us to ride". Turning his head to Wormmon and Veemon, Ken continued "Are you ready guys?"

"You don't have to ask us twice!" Veemon said enthusiastically. Hearing this, both Ken and Davis raised their D-3's and pointed them at their respective Digimon.

"Veemon digivolve to…ExVeemon!"

"Wormmon digivolve to…Stingmon!"

"ExVeemon…Stingmon…DNA digivolve to…Paildramon!" The newly formed dragon/insect hybrid Digimon stood in place of the two Champion-level Digimon. His hands, upper body, and midsection all closely resembled that of Stingmon's, while his torso, legs and wings clearly belonged to ExVeemon. In addition to this, his face was now covered by a red mask, and two cannon like guns hung from both his sides.

"Alright Paildramon, let's do it one more time!" Davis said, but his enthusiasm was soon lost as Gennai put a hand on his shoulder.

"Wait, before you go there is one other thing I should give to you, especially since your next opponent is unlike any other you have faced before". Gennai said, halting the team's progress. Immediately, Gennai pulled an azure orb from his robe and held it with both hands.

"Is that a Digicore?" Matt asked as he examined it for a moment.

"Yes Matt, it is. The Digimon Sovereigns are still recovering from their last battle with Daemon, so Azulongmon and I both felt that it would be best if we gave Gabumon the ability to digivolve to Mega once more" Gennai told Matt as he handed him the Digicore. As soon as he touched it, the Digicore dissolved and quickly shot into both Gabumon and Agumon, though it was evident that Gabumon received more of the dissolved core. "In addition to Gabumon being able to digivolve into MetalGarurumon again, the two of you" he said as he turned to Agumon "will be able to DNA digivolve together should you need to".

"Thanks Gennai, I'm sure we'll need all the help we can get" Matt told Gennai.

Nodding his head, Gennai turned to the rest of the Digidestined and said "Now all of you must hurry. TK's life and the fate of both worlds may rest on this battle. I wish all of you the best".

"Right" Davis responded before anyone else could. "Now Paildramon, digivolve!"

"Paildramon mega-digivolve to…Imperialdramon!" As the digivolution light faded, a massive dragon was revealed that was clad in black armor on his body and arms. Two massive red wings were seen protruding from its back, and between those wings was a giant cannon. On each limb there was a long yellow spike coming out, and a great white horn extended just above his mouth.

"Alight everyone, get on" Tai ordered as soon as Imperialdramon had finished digivolving. "We have to help TK!" As all the children boarded the massive dragon-Digimon, Tai gently grabbed Kari by the arm and turned her so that they could face each other. "Kari, listen to me. He's going to be ok" he told her, though she clearly seemed unconvinced. "Look, I promise you none of us are going to let anything happen to him. And with the Digicore, we'll be able to stop Daemon, I promise".

Kari slightly stared at Imperialdramon, wondering how affective he might be against Daemon this time. "I hope you're right Tai" Kari quietly responded.

As MagnaAngemon drew Excalibur, he charged towards Daemon as fast as he could. Daemon quickly responded by flying directly at MagnaAngemon, catching the angel's beam sword in his left hand and used the other to hit MagnaAngemon, knocking him away momentarily.

"Evil Inferno!" the demon yelled, launching his flaming attack at MagnaAngemon. Seeing this, MagnaAngemon raised his beam shield to protect himself from the flames. Daemon's attack momentarily blocked MagnaAngemon from his view, but soon the attack subsided. With his opponent now visible, Daemon was clearly shocked to see that his attack had been easily been deflected to either side of MagnaAngemon, with none of the flames actually hitting him. "I must admit, it is very impressive that you were able to come out of that attack unharmed with so little effort" he said with a hint of curiosity. "I see that the boy has made you strong enough to actually make a challenge". He turned so that he could watch TK, who was staring back at him with a vengeful glare, and began to give a small laugh and said "Yes, very impressive".

"Why do you keep saying that?" TK asked, caught off guard by Daemon's consistent interest in Patamon's new form.

"You'll see soon enough" Daemon responded with a sneer. Just as he finished saying that, he began to charge at MagnaAngemon, snarling. Similar to Daemon, MagnaAngemon grabbed Daemon's leading hand with his left arm and slashed at his opponent with the other. The sword met its target, and Daemon gave a shout pain before pushing himself away to make distance between himself and MagnaAngemon. Jumping into the air and extending his wings, Daemon yelled "Evil Flapping!" and sent a dark beam of energy straight at the angel.

"Soul Banisher!" MagnaAngemon yelled back while jumping into the air in a manner that was eerily similar to what Daemon had just done. As he did this, a beam of light shot from his wings and met Daemon's attack in the air, creating a large explosion that ultimately cancelled both attacks.

As the dust cleared, Daemon looked for his opponent in preparation for another attack, but was surprised to see that the angel-Digimon was no longer in front of him. He began to glance around the surrounding area, turning from left to right to find his opponent. However, his search his abruptly ended when he felt a force crash down on top of him. As the force drove him to the ground, he realized that MagnaAngemon must have taken flight after their attacks met so that he could land a direct hit on him. As he rose and turned to face his foe, MagnaAngemon slashed at him with his beam sword, doing his best to keep Daemon off balance.

"Evil Inferno!" Daemon yelled as he released a huge flame directed at MagnaAngemon. The blast forced the angel to cease his assault and separate from the demon so that he could raise his beam shield to block the attack once more and not worry about Daemon trying to hit him while he was concentrated on the flames.

"MagnaAngemon, we have to hurry!" TK yelled to his partner as the flames surrounding his partner disappeared.

Upon hearing this, MagnaAngemon extended his right arm and beam sword and began to make a circle. Trailing his arm, a line of purple light formed a circle, and soon materialized into a golden gate that looked ancient yet powerful. "Gate of Destiny!" MagnaAngemon said, unleashing his most powerful attack. After the gate formed, it opened so that one could see through the gate, but the view was blurred by a slightly purple-tinted haze. The open gate began to float away and took a position behind Daemon, stopping a few feet away from the demon.

"Get him MagnaAngemon!" TK yelled as he saw that the gate was in perfect positioning to knock Daemon into. Not taking a moment's hesitation, MagnaAngemon charged straight at Daemon and hit him with enough force to send both of them flying towards the gate.

Realizing what it was the his opponent was doing, Daemon braced himself so he could meet MagnaAngemon, plating his feet only yards away from the gate. Seeing this, MagnaAngemon swung Excalibur vertically so that the blade would come down on Daemon's head, but was surprised by Daemon's reaction to the assault. The demon met the sword with both hands, preventing the blow from connecting, entering the two powerful Digimon in a sheer test of strength. Both of the warriors gave off grunts as both tried to gain the edge, yet it appeared evident that neither was gaining any ground. Finally, with a yell, Daemon lifted his leg and hit MagnaAngemon with his knee, separating the Digimon from each other and sending them in opposite directions. While MagnaAngemon was thrown towards the area where TK was, Daemon began to fall towards the Gate of Destiny and was soon grabbed by its pull. Realizing his efforts of simply escaping would be futile, Daemon quickly turned around to face the gate and unleashed his strongest attack. "Evil Inferno!"

To TK's amazement and fear, Daemon's attack came in contact with the Gate of Destiny and began to disintegrate it, apparently from having been significantly weakened by the evil flames. "How was he able to do that?" TK asked out loud.

"Do you really think I could be defeated so easily!" Daemon yelled at TK and MagnaAngemon with a combination of anger and humor. "You've grown arrogant boy. Though he may be extremely powerful compared to most standards, he is still an Ultimate-level Digimon. He will never be strong enough to defeat me!"

TK bit his lip, trying to decide if he had taken on more than he and his partner could handle, but he quickly dismissed the thought as he remembered the reason why he had decided to come alone. "We'll see about that Daemon! We're not going to quit until we stop you!" TK yelled defiantly. "I'm not going to let you hurt anyone else!"

"You can't stop me bo-"

"Positron Laser!" Suddenly, a large, powerful laser came into contact with Daemon, cutting the evil Digimon off before he could finish talking and also knocking him off of his feet. Both TK and MagnaAngemon turned to see the source of the blast, and TK was shocked to discover that it was Imperialdramon that had attacked Daemon. He flew towards them at a remarkable speed, though he still had quite a bit of distance between each other.

As TK looked upon Imperialdramon rushing towards them, he quickly forgot about being only feet away from Daemon as he realized that if Imperialdramon was there, it was very likely that Kari was also with him. "Kari, please don't be there" he whispered to himself as he began to take a few small steps towards the Dragon Digimon. He continued to stare as the Imperialdramon landed almost a hundred yards away from him, and as the orb of light faded from his back, he looked to see who it was he was carrying. Davis and Ken were the first to come off, and closely behind them were his brother and Tai along with their Digimon. When the four boys saw TK, both began to run towards him, clearly yelling something at him though it was inaudible for TK due to the distance between them. TK made no effort to respond to them and instead looked behind the boys as he continued to make his way towards them. Moments later, he saw Kari emerge from Imperialdramon's back, causing him to momentarily stop breathing. He watched her as she frantically looked around with a scared look on her face, almost as if she were afraid she wouldn't find what she was looking for. Finally, her eyes stopped on TK, causing their eyes to meet. "Kari?" he whispered, fear painted all over his face. "Kari! You have to get out of here!" TK said yelling as he began to sprint towards Kari.

"TK, look out!" he heard MagnaAngemon yell to him as he continued to run. He turned his attention to where he had heard MagnaAngemon's voice come from and saw that he was heading directly at him, looking off in another direction. Following his partner's gaze, TK turned to see that Daemon was once again on his feet staring at him with his right arm raised. "EVIL INFERNO!" Daemon yelled in a booming roar, sending an attack at him that was larger than any TK had ever seen before. His eyes grew wide as he saw the giant ball of flames heading towards him, and tried to run as far away from the attack as he could as he realized that his irrational action would now cost him his life and possibly Kari's life. Suddenly, he saw a flash of light and heard a cry of pain as he turned to see not Daemon's attack, but MagnaAngemon flying at him, back towards TK.

"MagnaAnge-" was all TK managed to say before the angel-Digimon unintentionally hit him and sent him hurtling towards a large boulder. The last thing TK remembered or felt was his head coming into contact with the rock and seeing his blood on the ground beside him. And then he blacked out.

**Well, just to let all of you know, I really had no intention to end this chapter in another cliff hanger. I just began typing all of this and it got to the point where I had to decide if I would rather have a really long chapter or two chapters. Now, I don't necessarily mind making a chapter that was about twice as long as all the other ones, I just didn't want to make everyone wait what could've potentially been another month just for one update, especially since quite a few of you seemed ready for this next chapter. Anyways, I hoped you enjoyed this first part and I promise to have the next chapter up in a reasonable amount of time. Please review and I'll see everyone next time.**


	10. Duel of the Megas

**Well, I'm not going to lie this was really supposed to be posted about four days ago, but I was suddenly bombarded with due dates and what not for projects and homework so it just couldn't happen. That being said, I'm really sorry for all of you who may have felt that this chapter has taken so long. In my defense though, this is the longest chapter I've written so far so that has to count for something, right? Anyways, I'll let you get to the story and I really hope all of you like (or at least aren't completely peeved) the end. Enjoy.**

**Disclaimer:**** I don't own Digimon**

"Are we close?" Kari asked anxiously as she joined the others near the front of the barrier that held them on Imperialdramon's back.

"We're getting close but I can't see them yet" Imperialdramon responded as he continued to fly towards the location of TK's digivice.

"Kari, you have to relax. I promise you that we'll get there in time" Tai told Kari, grabbing her shoulder in support.

"How do you know?" Matt asked to no one in particular as he paced back and forth away from the others. Other than Kari, the older teen was clearly the most tense out of the group as he continued to blame himself for the current predicament his little brother was in.

"Matt, listen to me. TK can handle himself long enough for us to get there" Tai stated firmly. "He's had the most experience with evil Digimon; he knows what he's doing". Walking up to his friend, Tai lowered his voice to a whisper so that only he could hear and said "Matt, we'll get there in time. But we have to be smart about this. Once we get to him, I'm going to need you to stay with Ken, Davis, and I".

"Tai, once we get there I'm going after TK" he responded flatly. "Once he's ok, then I'll help you, but TK is my priority right now".

"Matt, if it was Kari instead of TK I would do the same thing. I know how you're feeling right now, but I need your help; we all do. Imperialdramon and WarGreymon can't stop Daemon by themselves, but if all of us are working together then we can" Tai said as calmly as he could. "Kari and the others will make sure he's safe Matt, but right now we need to give Daemon everything we have. He's powerful Matt and we're not going to do TK any good if we can't take him out".

Matt stared at Kari as Tai talked to him, and he found himself reminding himself about how much Kari and TK really cared for each other. "You're right Tai" Matt finally whispered back, realizing that if anyone there could take care of his little brother better than he could it was Kari. "If TK were here he'd be telling me the same thing".

"Yeah" Tai said in agreement. "And like I said before, TK can handle himself against anyone, even Daemon.

"I see them!" Imperialdramon yelled to the children shortly after Tai and Matt had finished talking. "Daemon and MagnaAngemon were engaged, but Daemon got away and destroyed the Gate of Destiny" he informed.

"Are you close enough to hit Daemon?" Davis asked, already preparing himself to do battle with the demon.

"No, if I shoot it could still hit TK or MagnaAngemon. I'll be in range in a few seconds, but it looks like MagnaAngemon has been able to hold him off on his own" he said with a combination of surprise and intrigue.

"That shouldn't surprise anyone. Alright everyone, get ready" Tai told the rest of the Digidestined. "As soon as we land, I want Matt, Ken, Davis, and I to take on Daemon. Everyone else, get to TK and make sure he's safe. Once we know for sure he's alright, I want all of you to get to the nearest portal and get him and Kari out of here".

"Tai no. I'm staying" Kari quickly said. "You're going to need all of us to have a chance against Daemon".

"You're the one he wants Kari. We can't risk him getting close to you" he argued.

"Tai, I'm not going" she sternly said.

Tai silently stared at Kari and thought about what she had said. On one hand he felt that he had to protect Kari at all costs, but on the other he knew she was right. "You better stay close to TK and everyone else" he finally said, giving into Kari's demand. "And if he even looks at you, you better get out of there".

"I'm in range!" Imperialdramon suddenly yelled.

"Take it!" Davis yelled back.

"Positron Laser!" Imperialdramon yelled, unleashing a powerful blue beam from the cannon on his back. The children heard a large explosion and groan of pain following the Imperialdramon's attack, and soon the dragon-Digimon landed on the plateau several yards away from TK. Immediately, the barrier surrounding the children disappeared, allowing the children and their Digimon to jump off.

Davis and Ken were the first to land, followed closely by Tai, Matt, Agumon, and Gabumon. "TK!" Matt yelled as he saw his little brother looking towards the group. All four of the boys and the two Digimon began to run towards TK, who also began to slowly make his way to the others.

Moments after seeing the group, TK began to sprint towards the boys, paying very little attention to his surroundings. "TK! Watch out, Daemon is getting up!" Matt yelled at his younger brother, though he knew it was very unlikely that TK was able to hear him. Turning towards Tai, he said "Tai, we have to get to him before-"

"EVIL INFERNO!" Matt was suddenly cut off by the sound of Daemon's most powerful attack, and he turned to see a giant flame flying straight at TK. Refusing to accept that this would be the last time he'd see TK alive, he began to run towards TK as fast as he could. "TK RUN!" he yelled in hopes that the younger blonde would hear him.

Just as Matt was ready to give up hope, he saw MagnaAngemon quickly jump in between TK and Daemon's attack, allowing him to be hit rather that TK. However, despite his best efforts, the force of the impact sent MagnaAngemon flying directly back towards TK, pushing him headfirst into a large rock. Matt watched helplessly as he watched his younger brother fall limply to the ground after he hit the rock, and he also saw that the hit MagnaAngemon had taken forced him to revert back into Patamon.

"TK!" Matt heard someone say from behind him. He turned to see a wide-eyed Kari running towards his little brother, and realized that it was her that TK was searching for when the group had landed and that she was the reason why he had begun running towards the group. "Kari!" he said while grabbing her arm before she could pass them.

"Matt let me go! TK's hurt!" she cried while trying to break free from his grip. She continued to struggle with him, but soon realized that she wasn't nearly strong enough to break free from his grip. "Matt please" she began to plead, "we can't let anything happen to him".

"Kari, we're not going to let anything happen to him" Matt said, looking her in the eye. "We're going to try and drive Daemon off, and I'm going to need you and the others to make sure he's ok". He paused for a moment to allow her to register what exactly he had been saying and finally said "Promise me you won't let anything happen to him".

Kari looked Matt in the eyes and began to nod her head, silently giving her word to protect TK as best she could. "Thank you" Matt whispered sincerely before turning towards Tai, Davis, and Ken "Alright guys, let's go. Kari, you and the others get to TK".

"Hello Digidestined. I see I have finally met the rest of your weak group" the children suddenly heard. Quickly turning their heads to the sound, the children watched Daemon confidently walk towards them while laughing. "I'm surprised to see you here girl, especially after the boy tried so hard to keep me away from you" Daemon said to Kari as he finally stopped advancing towards them.

Before Kari had a chance to answer, Imperialdramon stepped in between the group and Daemon and said "Stay away from her".

"You're just as arrogant as the boy" Daemon said laughing. "None of you know what is coming, and soon all of you will meet the same fate". With that, Daemon lunged at Imperialdramon, grabbing the giant dragon-Digimon and throwing him to the ground despite the great size advantage the Dragon Digimon had. Quickly responding, Imperialdramon rolled back onto his feet and attacked. "Positron Laser!" Imperialdramon yelled, sending another massive laser at Daemon. The attack hit Daemon in the chest, but unlike last time, the attack did not knock Daemon off his feet nor even seem to affect him. "Is that really the best you have?" Daemon said laughing.

"Agumon warp digivolve to…WarGreymon!"

"Great Tornado!" Before he could react, Daemon was hit by a giant, orange tornado which was traveling horizontally. The force of the attack sent Daemon to the ground, and after it was separated from Daemon, the giant tornado began to slow to a stop. When it finally stopped, it revealed a man-sized Digimon that strongly resembled a dinosaur clad in shining armor that covered his orange body. Both his arms and his shoulders were covered by yellow armor, and there were three long claws protruding from each hand. His face was covered with a silver mask that allowed his two green eyes to be seen and allowed his short, red hair to hang freely from the back. "You'd better leave while you still have the option, Daemon" WarGreymon said as Daemon began to get up.

"You children don't know when to quit do you?" Daemon said as he rose to his feet. "Perhaps this will be more fun than I thought".

"Don't listen to him WarGreymon! We've got this in the bag!" Tai yelled to his Digimon partner.

"Tai's right" Matt said, taking a place beside his brown-haired friend. "And it's time you pay for everything you've done. Get him Gabumon!"

"Gabumon warp digivolve to…MetalGarurumon!" Similar to WarGreymon, MetalGarurumon was covered in shining, metallic armor that covered most of his body. Taking the shape of a wolf, everything but his paws were protected by a silvery blue armor except for his yellow breastplate, his two wings, and his sharp tail. The metal-wolf Digimon also had several missiles lined on each shoulder, and he positioned himself so that they were all pointed at Daemon.

"Three on one hardly seems fair Digidestined, especially for someone as powerful as me" Daemon said after he examined MetalGarurumon, clearly still confident in his abilities. "But if it is a death you seek, then that is what all of you shall receive".

Using the commotion caused by Daemon's attack on Imperialdramon, Kari ran to where TK was lying unconscious. "TK!" she gasped as she finally reached the blond. "TK! TK, can you hear me?" Kari began to shake TK in an attempt to awaken him. Realizing what she was doing was futile, Kari began to inspect TK for any injuries and immediately noticed that there was a large gash on his head that was surrounded by dried blood. Sitting down, she lifted his head and placed it in her lap while applying pressure to TK's wound using the sleeve of her shirt. "Please be alive…Please…" Kari whispered as she continued to pant.

"He's going to be ok". Kari's head snapped at the sound of Izzy's voice, turning to see him kneeling beside her. "His breathing looks fairly normal, and the bleeding from his head stopped. Judging by the amount of blood on the ground, he's weak but not in danger of dying" Izzy finished as he inspected TK. Behind the red-haired genius, Sora, Yolie, Cody, and their Digimon hurried over to where Kari was, each of them taking glances at the battle that was taking place.

"Patamon!" Sora exclaimed as she saw TK's partner lying on the ground several feet away from the group. "I think he's ok" Sora relayed to the group after she ran to the Digimon's side. "He looks like he's just unconscious".

"OK, right now the most important thing is to get both TK and Patamon out of here" Izzy told the others, doing his best to remain calm as he began to give orders. "Yolie, where's the TV you used the last time all of you were here? It didn't show up on my map earlier".

"It should be right over there," Yolie said, pointing in a direction behind Izzy "but my digivice isn't picking up any signals. Daemon's portal must have short circuited it or something. I'll look on my D-terminal to see if I can find one nearby".

"We need to find it and get TK out of here" Cody quickly said. "TK's in no condition to be here, and if the others can't stop Daemon then we're in trouble. None of our Digimon are strong enough to even bother Daemon. We have to get him out of here while we still have a window to work with".

"Yolie, where's the closest portal" Sora asked as she continued to hold an unconscious Patamon.

"If there's one near us than I'm not finding it" Yolie said with a hint of frustration as she closed her D-terminal. "Daemon's portal must be interfering with the signal still".

"Then we'll have to fly him out of here" Izzy said after a moment's thought. "My computer probably has a better tracking radius than the D-terminal so I'll try to find one on my laptop. Kari you'll have to-"

"He's saying something" Kari said, cutting Izzy off before he could finish his sentence. "I think he's waking up" Kari told the others as she looked up.

The rest of the Digidestined gathered around TK in time to see him groan as he shifted his position in Kari's lap. "Kari…" they heard him whisper. "Kari…get her out of here, it's not safe".

"TK…TK I'm right here; I'm safe" she sincerely told the blonde, hoping that he was somehow able to hear her.

With his eyes still closed, TK continued to despite his current state. "Kari…, you have to get out of here…"

"Giga Missile!" MetalGarurumon yelled as he released a missile from his chest. The attack was aimed directly at Daemon's body, but the demon-Digimon easily pushed the missile aside, forcing it to detonate on the ground beside him without doing any harm to him. Seeing this, MetalGarurumon leapt towards Daemon in hopes to engage him directly while also allowing one of the other Digimon to get an easy shot at him. "Metal Wolf Claw!" MetalGarurumon yelled as he came into close proximity of the demon Digimon, but Daemon was able to counter his attack by grabbing one of MetalGarurumon's paws with one hand and his chest with the other. With this positioning, Daemon used MetalGarurumon's momentum to throw him across the field where he landed on his side before rolling over multiple times.

"Terra Force!" WarGreymon summoned a massive fireball between his claws that strongly resembled a small sun. Bringing the giant mass above his head, WarGreymon released the attack with as much force as he could muster. With Daemon's back turned due to his engagement with MetalGarurumon, the massive fireball directly struck him in the back, knocking him forward before finally hitting the ground several feet away. "Great Tornado!" the dinosaur Digimon yelled as he tried to continue to take advantage of Daemon's current status. Immediately he began to spin at an immense speed, quickly forming an orange tornado that flew straight towards Daemon.

"Evil Inferno!" Daemon shouted as he turned around and sent a large flame into the center of WarGreymon's attack, knocking the orange dinosaur to the ground. Before WarGreymon had a chance to catch his breath, he felt himself being pulled up by his throat from Daemon and thrown to the ground landing on top of MetalGarurumon, subsequently crushing him. Daemon began to step towards the two fallen Digimon, raising his arm in preparation to let lose another attack that was potentially fatal. "Evi-"

Before Daemon could unleash his powerful flames, he was suddenly knocked off his feet by Imperialdramon's tail. "You should learn to play nice" Imperialdramon said as Daemon rose to his feet to face the massive dragon Digimon once more. "Now I'll give you one more chance to walk away".

"I grow weary of these games" Daemon said as he rose to his full height. "Now you will pay for your annoyance!"

"Positron Laser!" Imperialdramon yelled as he sent another beam at Daemon. Deflecting the attack, Daemon hit Daemon directly in the chest, knocking the giant Digimon on his back. Quickly responding, Imperialdramon used his one of his claws to push Daemon off of him and quickly rolled back to his feet, taking a defensive stance as he did so.

"Tai, he's strong. Stronger than anyone we've ever faced" WarGreymon said as he rose to his feet. "I don't see how MagnaAngemon was able to hold him off for a few seconds on his own, let alone for the amount of time it took for us to get here".

"Maybe an angel Digimon is more affective against fallen angel Digimon then Gennai originally thought" MetalGarurumon said as he too began to get up. "I'm not sure how much longer we're going to be able to keep this up.

"C'mon guys, we can't give up yet. TK's still in danger and so is Kari" Tai told the two mega-level Digimon.

"Don't worry Tai, we're not going to give up, I promise" WarGreymon said before he and MetalGarurumon flew off to continue to battle Daemon.

"Tai, maybe we should get Kari and Angewomon to fight Daemon" Matt told his friend as soon as the two Digimon took flight. "If MagnaAngemon was that affective against Daemon, Angewomon is bound to be the same way".

"Maybe you're right Matt, but we can't let him close to Kari" Tai responded. "Look, he hasn't beaten us yet. We can't give up on our Digimon; we're going to stop this guy".

"Alright Tai, I'm not going to argue with you" Matt said, looking Tai in the eyes. "But just remember that right now she might be our best shot at making it out of this alive".

"Any luck yet Izzy?" Kari worriedly asked the boy genius as he continued to type on his computer.

"No" Izzy said with a sigh. "It seems Daemon's power surge has an interference radius of a half mile. At this rate, it might be easier for one of us to just go searching for one" Taking his eyes off his laptop for the first time since he opened it, Izzy turned his attention to TK and silently stared at him before saying "How's he holding up?"

"He's still unconscious, and he hasn't mumbled anything else since…well you know" Kari hesitantly said. "Izzy…do you honestly think he'll be ok?"

Izzy sighed, closing his laptop as he finally realized it had become useless for now. "Look Kari, I'm no doctor, but Joe's told me multiple times what to look for when anyone gets a head injury, and to me it seems like his symptoms aren't too serious. And don't forget we are talking about TK, the same TK that pulled off the impossible when the rest of us failed. He's stronger than he looks Kari; you of all people should know that".

"I know, I just-"

"We know Kari" Sora told Kari as she knelt beside the young brunette, Patamon still cradled in her arms. Placing a hand on Kari's shoulder, Sora said "Everyone knows how close the two of you are Kari; it's only natural to feel this way. But Izzy's right, it'll take a lot more than hitting his head to take TK out".

"OK" Kari quietly said before turning her gaze towards TK's face. "I just don't know why he would do this, you know? If something happens to him…I don't know if I could live with myself knowing I'm the reason TK got hurt".

"Kari, this was his choice; it wasn't your fault" Yolie quickly said. "And honestly, he'd probably do it again in a heartbeat". As she said this, all of the Digidestined and their Digimon turned to Yolie, unsure of how Yolie thought this would make Kari feel better. "Kari, TK isn't going to let anything happen to you. He has one reason to come out of any situation just fine, and that's to make sure you're safe. He's going to be fine Kari, and you're the reason why".

Upon hearing what Yolie had to say, the group sat in silence, each of the children unsure of the best way to proceed from there. However, the silence didn't last for long as they suddenly heard a weak groan coming from Sora's arm. "Patamon?" Sora worriedly asked as she brought the small Digimon closer to her face. "Patamon, can you hear me?"

Slowly, the guinea pig-Digimon slightly opened one eye, revealing only half a blue eye. "TK…did it hit TK?" he weakly asked.

"No Patamon, he didn't. He's unconscious right now since he hit his head, but he's going to be alright. You did great" Sora told Patamon with a smile as she found it funny that the little Digimon's only concern was his partner, though it didn't surprise her in the slightest. "How are you doing?"

"I'm not complaining," Patamon said, trying to sound as optimistic as possible "but I could really use some ice cream when we get back" he finished weakly.

"I'll get you all you want" Yolie promised, happy to see that TK's partner was not seriously hurt. "And I promise you we'll get back soon".

"Good" Patamon said with a small smile before closing his eyes again. "We're you able to stop Daemon?"

"Davis and the others are driving him off right now" Cody said as he took a glance Daemon and the other Digimon. "But we have WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon on our side this time around. He's not going to beat us this time".

Nodding his head, Patamon opened his eyes once again and stared at TK and Kari. "It was weird," Patamon began "when we were fighting Daemon, he kept…inspecting me. It was almost as if he was interested in how TK was able to make me digivolve. And he kept commenting on how TK was able to make me change into…well not a guinea pig".

"Wait, what?" Izzy asked with a combination of confusion and alarm.

"Daemon…he just kept talking about how powerful TK was able to make me" he answered with a hint of confusion.

Izzy stood frozen for a moment, but quickly turned to Kari who was still sitting with TK's head on her lap. Running towards her, he frantically began to question her "Kari, the last time Daemon came after you, was there anyone standing next to you?"

"What? Yeah TK was next to me why?" Kari asked, slightly taken aback by Izzy's sudden change in demeanor.

Izzy appeared to be in deep thought for a moment, but his face suddenly changed into an expression of worry and fear. "We need to get out of here, now!" Izzy said as he ran to pack his laptop. "The closest portal has to be around here somewhere, and we need to find it".

"Izzy hold on. TK's in no shape for us to randomly fly around until we find a TV" Kari quickly argued. "We need to know where were going first".

"Kari, you don't understand. We have to get out of here, all of us" he said as he finished stuffing his laptop into his bag.

"Izzy we can't. TK's not strong enough. Why is it so important we leave now and not earlier" Kari asked as Izzy wrapped one of TK's arms around his shoulder and tried to carry his limp body on his side.

"Cody help me" he told the younger boy, who immediately began to support TK's other side. With the added support, Izzy took a moment to turn towards Kari so that he could answer her question, knowing that he didn't have the time to keep arguing with Kari. "Kari, you're not the one he's after".

"Tai! Izzy and the others are moving" Davis yelled to the older boy brunette.

"Do you think there is something wrong with TK?" Ken asked as he too shot a glance towards the others before turning back to the battle at hand.

"I don't know guys" Tai said with a troubled tone. "But if there on the move then we need to wrap this up. WarGreymon!" he yelled. "Izzy's on the move; we need to buy them more time".

"Ken, Davis!" Imperialdramon yelled as he heard Tai call out to WarGreymon. "I think it's time to let out the big guns!"

"Then what are you waiting for!" Davis responded enthusiastically. "GO GET HIM!"

"Imperialdramon mode change to…Fighter Mode!" Imperialdramon's fighter mode was very similar to his dragon mode, with most of the Digimon's black armor remaining in their former place. However, he was now standing on two legs, and the massive cannon that was on his back was now attached to his right arm, giving him an appearance similar to a human. His head while in dragon mode was shifted to his chest, and he formed a blue face with red eyes. "Positron Laser!" Imperialdramon immediately yelled, sending a noticeably stronger laser at Daemon.

Lifting his hand, Daemon created a small force field that took the impact of the blast, allowing Daemon to be unharmed by the blast. "You've tried this before Digidestined! Allow me to refresh your memory on how it ended last time. Evil Inferno!" Imperialdramon crossed his arms to defend himself from the attack, but the blast still sent the giant Digimon flying backwards with a groan of pain.

"Matt!" Tai yelled a he saw this.

"Once step ahead of you!" Matt yelled back.

"WarGreymon…MetalGarurumon…DNA digivolve to…Omnimon!" As the two Digimon finished digivolving, Daemon was clearly caught off guard as both MetalGarurumon and WarGreymon combined into a tall, white-armored Digimon. His left arm was formed by WarGreymon's head, and also had an orange shoulder plate that bore the Crest of Courage. His other arm consisted of MetalGarurumon's head, and we bore a long cape that covered the length of his body.

"Hmm, this should be interesting" Daemon told Omnimon. "I'm looking forward to this. Evil Inferno!"

As the flames began to converge on him, Omnimon leapt out of the attack's way and raised his right arm, allowing a large cannon to appear from MetalGarurumon's mouth. "Supreme Cannon!" A great blast erupted from the cannon, and was headed directly at Daemon. Daemon quickly evaded the blast, but was unable to avoid Omnimon as he began to close in on Daemon. "Transcendent Sword!". Similar to his last attack, a long, double edged sword with ancient writing on it appeared from WarGreymon's head. As he began to fall towards Daemon, Omnimon brought the sword down in a vertical motion, attempting to land a blow on the demon's head.

"Argh!" Daemon yelled as Omnimon's attack came down on him. The blow forced Daemon to the ground, and he quickly rolled to his feet and faced Omnimon. He quickly began to follow up his latest attack with another attack from his sword, but Daemon managed to counter he attack and punched Omnimon in the stomach, momentarily separating them. "Evil Inferno!" Daemon attacked while his opponent was off balance. The flames connected with Omnimon, sending him backwards as he hit the ground and rolled several feet away. He was finally able to stop his momentum, and managed to land on his feet, allowing him to stand up and face the demon, seemingly unfazed by Daemon's direct hit. "That was impressive," Daemon said as he began to raise his arm in preparation for another attack, "but I would love to see get up from this. EVIL IN-"

"Positron Laser!" Daemon was suddenly hit from the side again as Imperialdramon stood up and took a place beside Omnimon. The two mega-leveled Digimon both raised their cannons at Daemon, and waited to see what Daemon was planning on doing.

Daemon was on his hands and knees as he looked up to see both his opponents pointing their respective cannons at him. "It seems I have underestimated your combined power" Daemon said as he began to get up. As he said this, a portal began to open behind Daemon that Quickly grew until it was large enough to fit him inside. "Despite what may have occurred here today, know that I would be able to slaughter either one of you were it not for the other's intervention. But mark my words though, I will have my revenge. Once I have what I want I will be invincible".

"If you're so powerful than why are you afraid of Kari?" Imperialdramon asked defiantly.

"Fear her? HAHAHA, how amusing. I do not fear that pathetic girl's powers. No, she is completely useless to me, as she is to the rest of you" Daemon answered amused. "But since all of you humans are so arrogant, I will make a deal with you. Give me what I want and I will think about finishing you off quickly instead of causing you all the pain in the world".

"Whatever it is you're after we'll never let you have it!" Omnimon boldly stated as he prepared to charge the demon.

"If you only knew the type of power you had" the demon-Digimon said with a laugh. "But how could any of you know what sits right in front of you! No, only I truly know what the boy is capable of. Give me the boy! Let the Child of Hope fulfill his ultimate destiny!"

"TK?" Omnimon said as he realized just how much danger TK had actually placed himself into. "Whatever you want with TK you can forget about it. We'll never let you take him, and he'll never help you!"

"Then you have sealed your own fate. I will have the boy and all of you will suffer for this" Daemon said as he began to back into portal. "Soon I will take him by force, and none of you can stop me. Enjoy these last few moments together children, for it will soon be your last!" With this, the portal slowly closed on Daemon, and the last thing the children heard was his evil laughter as he fled to the Dark Ocean.

An uneasy silence fell over the four boys after Daemon escaped, and each one slowly turned their heads towards Matt to see his reaction to what Daemon had said. "Matt…are you alright?" Tai asked his blonde friend. Placing a hand on his shoulder, Matt finally broke his gaze from where Daemon was just at and made eye contact with Tai. "Matt, we just stopped him. We can do it again, and we're not going to let him get away next time. We're not going to let him get anywhere near TK, ok?"

Giving a small nod, Matt turned towards where Izzy and the rest of the Digidestined had stopped after Daemon had left. "Tai, what the hell does he want with TK?"

**So, was it a good little twist? This was something that I had been planning to do all along, but I also tried to give a few, very discrete hints throughout some of the earlier chapters, but I hope most of you were somewhat caught off guard by this. Please let me know what you thought by reviewing and I hope you all stay tuned for more. Thanks.**


	11. Aftermath

**Hey everybody, I hope everything is going good for all of you. Let me start of by saying thanks to everyone that reviewed. I'm not going to lie, I was pretty excited to get the number of reviews that I did for the last chapter. Anyways, no fighting in this chapter (well sort of) but I hope all of you like it. Thanks.**

**Disclaimer:**** I don't own Digimon (I frequently wish I did though)**

"He should be up anytime now" Izzy said as he shut the door to his room. "But I'm not entirely sure that Matt should be the only one in there when he wakes up; he still looks pretty angry that TK would do what he did".

"He'll be angry but he's not going to kill him" Tai said as he stood up from the coach that he was sitting on. Beside him, Kari had curled up into a ball and fallen fast asleep, exhausted from the day's events. "I'm guessing you let him take the bed?"

Nodding, Izzy said "Yeah, I didn't really want to drag him out here just in case my parents came home and started asking too many questions. Where'd everyone else go? Did they head home already?" he asked as he began to make his way to the kitchen.

"Yeah, it's getting pretty late so they all figured they should before their parents called" Tai explained before walking to the kitchen with Izzy. The red-haired boy began to pouring two glasses of water and handed one to Tai. "Sora tried to stay a little later, though" Tai said as he took the drink. "She said she wanted to keep an eye on Matt when TK woke up, but I convinced her that we wouldn't let him do anything to TK. And even if he did get a little too worked up then we'd be here to keep an eye on him".

"Oh alright. So, what do you think about what he did?" Izzy asked casually as he took a drink from his glass.

Tai appeared to think hard about Izzy's question, almost as if he were afraid he would answer the question wrong. "He was stupid for thinking he could do that on his own, and he looked even dumber when we found out that it was him Daemon was after. But…" he trailed off as he turned his attention towards the room TK was in "I can't help but be grateful towards him for at least trying. I know that it in the end it was pointless for him to do that, but I never thought he would ever do anything like that for Kari".

"Yeah, she's lucky to have him, Not many people would do that for anyone" Izzy commented. "Do you think he has any idea that he's the one that Daemon is after?"

"I don't see how he could" Tai answered. "I just hope Matt takes it easy on him. I mean if it were Kari instead of him, I don't know how long I'd be mad at her".

"Well we should know soon enou-"

"What the hell were you thinking TK!" The two boys suddenly heard, consequently cutting Izzy off.

"Was that perfect timing or what?" Tai asked with a smirk. "I guess we'd better get in there before he gets too worked up. I'm sure Kari wouldn't appreciate Matt killing TK before she can".

"What the hell were you thinking TK!" Matt yelled at his little brother as TK slowly began to awaken. "Do you have any idea what could've happened to you?"

"Matt slow down; I just woke up" TK quietly responded as he clutched his head. Taking a glance around the room, he quickly realized that he and Matt were both in Izzy's room. He began to wonder where the other Digidestined were, but quickly came to the conclusion that if he were safe in a bed than the others would have probably headed home by now. Despite this, he couldn't overcome a lingering question. "Where's Kari?" he asked.

"Where's Kari? Are you listening to yourself? You just went out and tried to face the most powerful Digimon we had ever seen by yourself. Do you have any idea how close you were to being killed and you don't even care? Are you really that selfish?" Matt continued to yell, his anger continuing to increase.

"Selfish? Do you have any idea what I was trying to do?" TK asked in a defensive manner, though it was clear he was keeping his anger contained. "Matt, I was trying to stop Daemon from getting to Kari. It's not like I went after him by myself for glory or something. You of all people should know I'm not out to prove anything to anyone. All I wanted to do was keep Kari safe".

"How stupid can you be TK?" the older blonde continued to ask in anger. "You don't even reali-"

"Matt, that's enough" Tai calmly said as he and Izzy entered the room. "Nothing happened to him, let's just be grateful for that".

"Don't give me that Tai" he snapped back. "If it was Kari instead of him you wouldn't be so quick to try and stop me".

"Maybe you're right, but yelling at TK isn't going to help anything" Tai continued to say calmly. "He knows what he did was wrong and I'm sure he won't do it again. It's been a long day; let's just call it a night and you two can talk tomorrow if you still need to".

"Tai's right Matt. All of us should try to clear our heads before we say something that we'll regret later" Izzy said, doing his best to support their spiky-haired leader. Turning his attention towards TK, Izzy began to inspect his injury and began to quietly ask TK various questions about how he was feeling, which TK answered just as quietly.

"I know what you two are trying to do, but stop" Matt said coldly after a brief moment, causing Izzy and TK to glance at him worriedly. "What TK did was irrational and stupid, and he needs to know that". Turning his focus to TK, Matt continued to say "You need to grow up and realize that your actions are going to harm everyone else. Did you even think about what would've happened if we didn't get there in time? Did you even think about how it could've affected Mom or Dad or me or even Kari?" TK turned away as Matt continued to harass him with questions, and he quickly began to feel guilty as he realized the truth in Matt's words. Matt continued to stare at him coldly before finally saying "Yeah, I didn't think so" after TK failed to answer him.

"Matt take it easy on him" Tai whispered to his friend as he saw the look of guilt that began to form on TK's face. "It's part of being young; he's going to make mistakes. Both of us made them when we were younger, it's just a part of growing up".

"No Tai. We never made a mistake like this when we were young. Heck we've never done anything like this" Matt angrily said, coming very close to yelling. Turning around, Matt began to walk towards the door in preparation to leave before he was suddenly by a defiant voice.

"You would've done it if it were Sora, Matt" someone said. The two boys turned to see TK nervously staring at Matt, verifying to each of them that it was TK who had said that.

"What'd you just say?" Matt asked, venom clear in his voice.

Summoning up all of his remaining courage, TK stood up so that he could look Matt in the eyes and said "If it were Sora instead of Kari, you know you would've done the same thing Matt. Don't stand there and tell me that you wouldn't have done that for her because both of us know you'd be lying".

As soon as TK finished talking, Matt lunged at his little brother, reaching him before TK could respond. Matt immediately grabbed TK's collar and pushed him into the closest wall, knocking over several items on Izzy's desk and making rather loud noises. "Don't you dare try to compare this with me and Sora! What I would do for Sora has nothing to do with what you should do for Kari. I don't care how good of friends you are, you don't owe her your life!"

"Why Matt?" TK challenged as he struggled to get out of Matt's grip. "Why is it different. You know how much Kari means to m-" TK stopped himself before he could finish his sentence, appearing to be deep in thought before taking a deep breath as he drew stares from the other boys. In truth, TK wasn't sure what it was he was saying before it began to come out, though it did clearly catch him off guard; and judging by the way the other boys were looking at him, it was obvious that what he was saying surprised everyone else. "She's important to all of us Matt. I…I couldn't sit around and do nothing" he finally managed to say.

"It's not the same TK" Matt half-heartedly said after a few moments, clearly having much less anger than he had before. He loosened his grip on TK's collar, allowing the younger blonde to slightly relax and break away from his brother's grip. Matt continued to breath heavily as he looked away, clearly surprised at the amount of emotion that TK had had when he had spoken about Kari. "You don't have to risk your life for anyone TK, ever" Matt finally told TK.

"No Matt, you're wrong" TK told his older brother as he rubbed his neck. "I'm sorry I worried you, I really am... But this was something that I had to do".

"Why?" The four boys turned their head towards the doorway at the sound of the new voice. Of all the boys, TK clearly became the most worried as he watched Kari stare at him with a look of pain. "What could possibly make you think that I would want you to do anything like this? You could've died out there TK, all because of me. Do you think that's something I want?"

"Kari, I-" TK began, but stopped as he realized Kari wasn't looking for an explanation. Instead, he stared back at her, doing his best to let her know how sorry he was by the expression on his face. "Kari, please. I'm sorry" he said as sincerely as possible. "I never meant upset you".

Kari began to shake her head as TK tried to apologize and it became obvious to everyone that she was on the verge of crying. "I can't believe you TK. You're the last person I would've thought of to do something like this. And you just want me to be ok with that? No TK, I can't" she managed to say before walking out of Izzy's room.

"Kari wait!" TK said as he began to go after her.

"Give her a minute to cool off TK" Tai said as he grabbed his arm, preventing him from following his little sister. "In fact it'd probably be better if you wait to talk to her tomorrow; she looked pretty upset just now".

"But Tai," TK began to argue, turning to the older brunette with an expression of pure duress on his face "she hates me. I…I didn't mean to upset her, I just wanted to help. I didn't want her to be scared anymore".

Tai gave a small chuckle as TK said this before saying "She doesn't hate you TK. I don't think she could ever hate you; heck, I don't even know if you could even annoy her. She's just rattled because she thought she was going to lose you and she doesn't know how to handle that. Just give her a little time and you'll see that I'm right".

Looking out the door, TK watched as Kari sat down on the couch and placed her head in her hands, clearly crying. "I made her cry" he said to himself as he watched her, suddenly feeling a great deal of remorse for what he had done.

"You didn't make her cry TK" Matt said, walking up to his little brother's side. He silently watched TK as he grudgingly stared at Kari, realizing that he was mentally beating himself up for "making" Kari feel the way that she did. "Tai's right; she's just trying to handle everything that's happened today. She isn't angry with you, she's just trying to cope, just like me".

"I have to talk to her Matt. I have to tell her how sorry I am". TK told his older brother before turning to face Tai. "Tai please, I don't want to see her cry" he pleaded.

"Alright TK" Tai said with a sigh after a moment. Releasing TK's arm, Tai continued "Just relax a little. Both of you are safe, and that's all that matters".

"Kari?" TK cautiously asked. "Kari will you please talk to me?" He watched as Kari lifted her head and immediately noticed the red in Kari's eyes and instantly felt the guilt for what he had done rush back to him.

"Now isn't a good time TK" Kari said as she got up and made her way to the door. Before she exiting apartment, she turned back to him and said "I think it'd be best if we just said goodnight now".

"Kari wait" he desperately said as she began to open the door. Quickly walking towards her he began to say "I only did it to-"

Before TK had a chance to finish what he was saying, Kari turned around and slapped TK in his face, leaving a small red mark on his cheek. "Stop it TK" she began, clearly on the verge of tears. "You lied to me and almost got yourself killed. You don't have any idea how hard it was to sit around and do nothing while you go out there and try to kill yourself".

TK raised his hand to the cheek that Kari had slapped, slightly stunned that Kari had struck him. Though the slap had caused him very little physical pain, it stung him emotionally as he realized just how much he had hurt Kari. "I just wanted to protect you Kari" he said after taking a short breath. "Look, I didn't tell you because I didn't want you to worry, and I didn't want to take the chance that you would try to go with me" he finished in a defeated tone. "Daemon wants you Kari; I can't just sit around and wait for that to happen".

"No TK, you're wrong" she told him quietly. TK gave her a confused look as she said this, clearly unaware of what she was talking about. "What are you talking about Kari? There's no one else strong enough to stop him".

"No, I'm not TK" she responded. "But you are".

"Kari what are you talking about?" he asked. The two teens stared into each other's eyes as TK did his best to understand what Kari was trying to say. "Are…are you saying I'm the one Daemon is after?" TK finally asked.

Kari began to slowly nod her head and said "Yeah TK, he's after you . And then you went off and almost handed yourself to him". TK stood in silence as he realized just how lucky he had been to survive his last battle. "Do you have any idea how scared I was TK?" Kari asked with more duress than before after TK failed to respond to her. "What if he had killed you TK? What if we hadn't gotten their in time?" she began to say as she let her emotions run free. Turning her back to him, Kari stopped holding her tears back and let them flow freely before she said "TK, all I can think about is how you did all that because you were trying to help me… If something were to ever happen to you because of that…TK I couldn't live with myself knowing that I was the reason you're gone".

"Kari you can't honestly believe that" TK began. "Look you're right, all of you are right; what I did was stupid. But that isn't on you Kari. And if that's the way you feel about it then I'm sorry". Placing a hand on her shoulder, TK gently turned her so that they could once again face each other and looked straight in her eyes. "Kari please; I never wanted to hurt you. You know I care too much about you to try and make you feel this way".

"I know TK" she said quietly while staring into his blue eyes. "But that doesn't change anything. I'm not mad at you TK, I'm really not. I'm just scared that if you did it now, what'll stop you from doing it again". With that, Kari walked past TK and made her way back to the couch. Reaching her destination, she took a deep breath and closed her eyes, doing her best to get her emotions back under control. "TK, the only way I'm going to feel better about this is if you promise me something" she said told the blonde.

"What?" TK asked hopefully as he thought this was his opportunity to set things right.

"I don't care what happens with Daemon or anything else" she began, her back still turned to TK. "You have to promise me that no matter what happens, you're not going to get yourself killed for me. I don't care if it means that I might die, I just want you to do everything you can to keep yourself safe" she finished emotionally. Not waiting for TK to respond, Kari began to walk towards Izzy's room so that she could have Tai take her home, but was stopped as she heard TK's response. "No" he said in a quiet yet serious tone. She immediately turned around to see TK staring at her with a look of nervousness and determination. "Kari, you know that I can't do that".

"Why not TK?" she said, raising her voice. Kari stared at TK as he began breath nervously. "TK, why not?" she asked again, louder than before. He thought about her question as she continued to stare at him and realized that he couldn't come up with an answer that he felt was honest. As he continued to silent, Kari's anger continued to grow until she yelled "Answer me TK!"

"I don't know Kari, I just can't" he finally managed to say. Slightly taken aback by the anger in Kari's voice.

"Then I think we shou-" Kari began but stopped as she felt a hand rest on her shoulder. "That's enough Kari" a kind but stern voice told her. Turning her head to the source of the voice, she looked Tai staring at her worriedly. "Both of you need some rest" he told the young brunette in a way that was clearly more than a request. Kari turned her head and took a short glance at Tai and began to nod her head, conceding with her brother's wishes. "TK, Matt is going to give you a ride home; I think he wanted to talk to you a little before you two called it a night".

Though he heard what he had said, TK didn't respond to Tai but instead stared at Kari as the two siblings began to make their way to the door. Tai opened the door for Kari and allowed her to exit the apartment first and said "Relax TK, everything will be alright". Tai gave TK a small smile as he said this followed Kari out the door.

"You should take it easy on him you know" Tai said to his little sister as the two rode in the elevator to the bottom floor.

"Why do you think that?" she asked in a controlled tone. The two hadn't spoken a word to each other since leaving the apartment, and the silence had allowed Kari to calm down after her confrontation with TK.

"Because there aren't many people that are willing to do that for anyone" Tai said casually. As he said this, the elevator landed on the ground floor, and the two exited the building and headed towards Tai's car as he continued to talk. "I know you're upset, and you have every right to be. But I have to be honest with you Kari; you have no idea how thankful I am to him. I don't think that there is anyone who would say that TK is the type of person to do something like this; I know I wouldn't. But he did it because he thought it would help you. If you think about it, it's not any different from the way you two secretly do favors for each other".

"So you think I should just forgive him for almost getting himself killed because of me?" Kari asked half-sarcastically as the two reached and entered Tai's car.

"No, I think you should forgive him because I have a feeling you'd do the same thing for him" Tai answered.

**So the slap was probably a little out of Kari's character, but they're all older now and it was the best way I could think of to have Kari express her emotion. Please tell me what you think by reviewing and I'll see you next chapter. Thanks for reading.**


	12. Making Amends

**Hey everyone, sorry this chapter is a little late but I'm glad that there are quite a few of you keeping up with the story. So this chapter doesn't particularly have a serious tone to it, but I thought it needed to be in this story. Anyways, I hope you enjoy it and please review.**

**Disclaimer:**** I don't own Digimon**

Matt and TK silently drove down the empty streets of Obadia, with both boys wondering what was going on in the other's head. Following his confrontation with Kari, TK had yet to speak a word to either Matt or Izzy, clearly too upset to talk. Likewise, neither one of the older boys had attempted to speak with the young blonde since all of the boys, including Tai, had quietly listened to what had been said.

"How's your head?" Matt finally asked, unable to take the silence any longer, though his eyes remained on the road ahead of him.

"What?" TK asked, confused at Matt's concern after he had been so angry with him only a short time ago. "Um, my head still hurts but it feels a lot better" he finally responded after a moment.

"Good" Matt nodded, refusing to face his little brother. "You should probably put some ice on it when you get home" he suggested.

"Yeah, I will" TK said before turning his head towards the window. "Not really on the top of my priority list though" TK muttered, quietly enough that TK thought Matt hadn't heard.

"I'm sure" Matt said, finally turning his head towards TK. TK quickly turned his head towards Matt after hearing his response, surprised that Matt not only heard him but also seemed to know what he was talking about. "I'm sorry TK, but she was kind of yelling at you" Matt began to explain to his little brother while at the same time letting him know he knew his mind was on Kari. "We didn't mean to eavesdrop on you, but we couldn't really help it…How are you doing?" he asked.

"I just wanted to help her out Matt" TK said while looking down, not knowing what else to say. Matt finally pulled up to his mother's apartment complex, parking just outside the entrance. "I know were TK" he said while turning his car off. "Listen TK, I'm sorry about everything today. I know I overreacted; I guess I still see you as my little brother and not as a teenager. And you're right TK. If it were her instead of Kari, I would've done the same thing. It's hypercritical of me to get angry with you over this".

"Thanks Matt" TK said with a small smile. "I'm sorry I put you through that though. And thanks for coming after me".

"You'd do it for me" the older blonde confidently. "And apparently Kari" he finished with a smirk.

"What's that suppose to mean?" TK asked skeptically.

"C'mon TK, I told you we heard everything that you two said" Matt reminded his little brother. "We heard you when you wouldn't tell Kari what she wanted to hear. Didn't you think it was kind of convenient that Tai came in when he did?" Matt watched as TK he began to think back to when Tai had intervened on his and Kari's conversation. "Anyways," Matt continued as TK continued to ponder what Matt had previously said "let me give you a little tip on women: tell them what they want to hear" Matt advised TK, giving a small chuckle at his own joke. "But in all honesty" he began, this time in a serious tone "I think you and Kari should reconsider your relationship".

"What are you getting at Matt?" the younger blonde asked, clearly unsure of where Matt was going with this.

"TK,…you like Kari, don't you?" he asked in a way that was clearly more of a statement than a question. As he heard this, TK began to roll his eyes and an amused smile began to appear on his face. "Matt, I don't know where you come up with all of this. Did Mimi put you up to this? You know you can't listen to everything she says" TK said jokingly.

"I'm being serious TK. And Mimi is in America; how would she know anything about the two of you" Matt said logically, with a hint of annoyance. "Look TK, don't try to laugh this off. There's a reason why you felt so compelled to face Daemon alone, and it's the same reason that you refused to tell Kari you wouldn't die for her". Matt closely watched TK as he turned away and looked out the window into the night sky. Matt could clearly tell that his younger brother was thinking hard about what he had just said, and he began to question whether or not this had been a good decision. "It's only natural for something like this to happen TK" Matt continued after what he felt were several long minutes. "The two of you have been together for almost all of our adventures in the Digital World, and you just seemed to keep getting closer to her the second time you had to deal with Digimon. And now all you seem to do is spend time with her. You can't honestly tell me that there is someone else you'd rather spend all your time around besides Kari".

"Why are you telling me this Matt?" TK whispered to his older brother, unsure of what he should do next.

"Because I'm worried about you TK. And I want you to be happy" he told his little brother. "You once told me that seeing Sora and I gave you hope that you could find someone and get it right. But the truth is, seeing you and Kari helped me realize that I could get it right. It's like you two just fit together" Matt finished. "Maybe I'm wrong TK, but I think you're just lying to yourself about how you feel about her…Just promise me you'll think about it, ok?"

"Alright Matt, I will" TK answered quietly. "Thanks for the ride and everything else today. I'll talk to you tomorrow. Goodnight" he said sincerely as he exited the car.

"Goodnight TK".

"Kari, I promise you that what happened yesterday will never happen again. You know hurting you is the last thing I would ever want to do and I'm willing to do anything it takes for you to forgive me" TK recited to himself, doing his best to make sure he didn't stutter at all when he told them to Kari.

Following his conversation with Matt, TK discovered that his mother had once again worked late into the night, much to TK's relief, and quickly went to bed. However, morning came much too soon for the young teen and to say it was a challenge for him to get up was a large understatement. Now the he looked back on his morning, TK realized that the only reason he had found the will to get up and make his way to school was the idea that he'd have a chance to make amends with Kari.

The entire morning, TK had been saying the same general statement over and over again to himself until he finally found himself staring at the steps leading to the entrance of his school. The young blonde sighed as he stopped, clearly nervous. He and Kari had never left any issue between them unresolved, and she had never been so upset with him that she would slap him. Realizing that, he wasn't sure what the best way to approach her on the subject was or if she even wanted to talk to her. Yet despite all of that, he knew he would never truly feel right if there were any friction between him and Kari. In short, he was both nervous and ancy to have the opportunity to speak with Kari. Taking one final breath, he walked into the school building and mentally prepared himself for the worst-case scenario.

"TK!" he heard someone yell as soon as he entered the school building. "TK, what are you doing here? I figured you would've taken at least one day off after what happened yesterday" Davis told his blonde friend as he ran up to him.

"Hey Davis" TK replied in a tired tone. "You're here a little early, what gives?"

"Oh just thought I would come early to incase you did decide to come. You don't think I could just let roam the halls of school when I'm sure you're on the verge of passing out" Davis told TK in a way that sounded like it his reasoning was obvious. "Anyways, stop avoiding the question: what compelled you so much to come today?"

"Life doesn't stop just because of a lack of sleep Davis" TK said with a yawn.

"True but no one would've blamed you if you wanted to take the day off" Davis responded, though he seemed a little unconvinced. "But you're here now so I guess we have to make the best of today" he finished happily.

"Yeah you're right, there's really no point in complaining now" TK agreed. "Have…have you seen Kari yet?" he asked Davis nervously, clearly unsure if asking Davis was a mistake.

"Kari? She didn't tell you, she decided to skip today" the brunette told TK. "She sent me an e-mail and asked if she could copy my notes…Did something happen between you two?" Davis asked suspiciously.

"Um…" TK answered.

"So yes?" Davis guessed, clearly amused. "I was wondering why she didn't ask you. I figured it was because she thought you weren't going but I thought about it and realized that wasn't a reason for her to stay home today". TK looked away as Davis told him this, unsure of how to proceed. "Listen man, if you want to skip class…" Davis began but trailed off as he continued, clearly implying he should try and go see Kari.

"No…she probably doesn't want to see me" TK said after he had thought about Davis' "suggestion". "I shouldn't try to invade on her personal space".

"Haha, Kari has personal space with you. That's a good one TK" Davis laughed as TK gave him a confused look. "Personal space doesn't exist between the two of you".

TK nervously stood in front of the Kamiya apartment, debating whether or not this was a good idea. After finding out that Kari had decided not to attend school that day, TK had tried to stay true to his word and give Kari her space. However, he found that throughout the day, it was impossible for him to focus on anything. No matter what he tried, all he could think about was that he had made Kari so upset that she didn't even want to look at him. By the time lunchtime came around, TK knew that he couldn't handle Kari being mad at him anymore. Finally, he decided to skip the rest of the day and see if Kari was willing to hear him out.

Mustering up all the courage he had, TK lifted his hand knocked on the apartment door. He waited patiently and closed his eyes, hoping that he hadn't dug too deep of a hole for himself. "TK?" he suddenly heard a female voice say. Immediately, TK opened his eyes and looked straight at Kari's mom, Mrs. Kamiya. TK stared at Kari's mother for a moment, studying her in his sudden shock. Most could easily tell that her and Kari were related; both had the same brown hair and eyes. In fact, the only real difference between the two women was that Mrs. Kamiya was slightly taller than Kari and her face had some slight aging. He realized that he must've been so nervous that he hadn't heard the apartment door open and became slightly embarrassed. "Um, hi Mrs. Kamiya. I'm sorry, I was dozing off".

"That's alright TK" she answered cheerily, smiling at the tall blonde. "It's nice to see you again, but shouldn't you be in sch- TK what happened to your head?" she asked, pointing at the scar TK had gotten when he had hit his head the day before.

"Oh, um…" TK stuttered, quickly trying to think of a plausible lie. "Well um… I was at basketball practice yesterday and I…um…went for a ball that was going out of bounds. Long story short, I dived a little too far for it and hit my head on the bleachers" TK finished with slightly more confidence than when he had started.

"Wait I'm a little confused. Aren't the bleachers pretty far away from the court?" Mrs. Kamiya asked, clearly suspicious.

"Well they are, but-" TK began.

"But he occasionally does some pretty irrational and pointless things". TK turned towards the sound of a new voice and smiled as he saw Kari standing a few steps away with a hint of a smile on her face. "I'm guessing you came here to talk to me?" she asked TK casually. Turning towards her mother, Kari asked "Mom, is it ok if TK and I go on a walk?"

"Sure honey" Mrs. Kamiya told Kari. She gave one last smile to TK and began to step back into the apartment. "Call me if you need anything Kari" she told her daughter before closing the door behind her.

"Hi" TK said nervously to Kari after her mother had closed the door.

"Hey" she answered in a tone that was both friendly and nervous. Kari walked the few remaining steps that were separating the two and extended her right hand to touch TK's healing wound. "It looks better today. How are you feeling? Does it hurt at all?" she asked with what sounded like genuine concern.

"Yeah it feels better. I still have a little headache but I don't have too much to complain about" he answered Kari.

"That's good" she said. She continued to inspect TK's wound, but eventually removed her hand. "TK…I want you to know that what I did yesterday was a mistake" she began, moving her head so that she could stare at her shoes. Kari looked as if she were about to say more but was stopped by TK as he took her hand.

"Kari, I don't care about what you did" he began, lifting her head with his other hand so that he could stare into Kari's eyes. Breathing heavily, TK continued "I can handle you slapping me. What I can't handle is the fact that I hurt you. But if I had a chance to do it again than I would. Kari, I can't promise you that I'm not going to do anything it takes to keep you safe. I would gladly sacrifice myself to protect you, and I can't change that. I…I just…you mean way too much to me to let anything happen to you".

"I know TK" she said with a small smile, tears beginning to form in her eyes. "And if I had the chance, I would do it too. So I guess it is really unfair of me to get mad at you about it".

As he heard this, TK returned Kari's smile with one of his own and continued to stare into her eyes. Just with a few simple words, TK felt his despair turn into uncontainable hope that he was unsure of how to express. As the two teenagers continued to stare into each other's eyes, both of their smiles continued to grow as they both realizing that the relationship shared between them was stronger than either had ever thought and a simple fight could not change that. "Have you eaten lunch yet?" TK finally asked, his signature smirk glued to his face.

"So why exactly didn't you eat lunch?" Kari asked as the two teens sat at a small diner not far from Kari's apartment. "I'm sure you didn't eat last night, so what has that been, more than twenty-four hours since you last ate?"

"I just didn't have an appetite at the time" TK told her casually as he set the plate of food he had purchased on the table. Taking a seat across from Kari, TK began to unwrap his sandwich and asked "But now I'm starving. So why didn't you decide to go to school?" before taking a bite.

"Honestly, it was because I was afraid you wouldn't want to talk to me" Kari said as she took a drink from her water. Upon saying this, Kari noticed TK give her a weird glance and she immediately knew what he was about to ask. "I've never actually hit you before TK…I didn't know if you would be willing to forgive me. I just figured if you didn't want to talk to me, then I couldn't handle being around you. I'm sure you know what I mean. But then around lunch time, Davis sent me an email that said you had been acting depressed all day; I thought I would come see you, even if you were still mad at me".

"Davis, huh?" TK asked with a smirk. "That guy just doesn't know when to stop putting his nose in everyone's business". Shaking his head and laughing to himself, TK turned to face Kari once again and said "This morning he told me you weren't going to class today and I guess I seemed pretty bummed out when I heard. I guess he was keeping an eye on me today because I only had one class with him, but I'm sure I did seem a little gloomy. It's just, I didn't want to have any friction between us and I guess I was looking forward to making things right".

"Well now I just feel bad" Kari said in a mock pout, easily drawing a smile from TK. "It's a good thing that I had forgot my keys and came back to the apartment; it would've really been bad luck if we had missed each other because both of us were trying to do the same thing" she said jokingly.

"Yeah it would've been some cruel joke of fate" TK agreed jokingly. The two began laugh quietly with each other, both clearly over what had transpired just the day before. "Do you ever wonder why Davis just stopped chasing after you so much?" TK asked, trying to make small talk. "Ever since we fought Malomyotismon, he just hasn't been so pushy to be around you".

Kari shrugged as she reached for her sandwich and said "Maybe he just grew up a little. With everything that all of us have been through together, it wouldn't be too far of a stretch to think that it changed him in that way. And it's not just him. All of us changed, and I think it was all for the best".

"You're right" TK said thoughtfully. "Do you ever wonder how our lives would've been different if the Digimon had never shown up? Do you think we ever would've met?"

"I'd like to think that we would've" Kari told TK as the two faced each other. A short silence passed between the two teens, neither knowing what the best thing to say was. "We shouldn't talk about this" Kari finally said. "Besides, I don't regret anything that's happened; if I had a chance to do it all over again I wouldn't change anything".

"Not even slapping me?" TK asked with a smirk.

Kari thought about the question for a brief moment as she tried to figure out why TK would ask her that, but she quickly realized he was just joking with her and directed a mischievous smile at the tall blonde. "Of course not, that's my favorite memory of all" she said told TK in what she hoped sounded like a serious tone, though she knew TK would immediately know it was just a joke.

TK only laughed at Kari's response and stared at her with a smile as he watched her join in his laughter. At that moment, TK began to think back to the conversation he and Matt had the night before, unsure if this was something worth mentioning to Kari. "Hey Kari," he finally said "remember the deal we made yesterday? About getting married when we're thirty if we are both available?"

"Yeah what about it?" she asked casually.

"Well don't take this the wrong way, but I hope neither of us ever do find anyone" TK told her, somewhat cautiously.

"Why is that?" Kari asked clearly confused though there was no hint of hurt or anger in her voice.

"Because I like the idea of always being with you"

**Nothing really significant obviously in this chapter, but I felt like this would be a good way to transition to the next few chspters. Besides, everyone had to make amends with TK somehow. Anyways, thanks to everyone for reading and please review if you have any comments or suggestions. **


	13. New Emotions

**Hey everybody. So I have had exams for the past two weeks, and then finals just seemed to be thrown at us so needless to say I'm a little worn out. But luckily they're almost through. Anyways, here's the next chapter, enjoy.**

**Disclaimer:**** I don't own Digimon**

"Are you sure TK and the others shouldn't be here?" Sora asked Tai as he took a seat beside Izzy, both now directly across from her and Matt. The four had decided to meet earlier that day to discuss what had transpired the day before, though they had all decided to keep it secret from the others.

"Yeah, I'm sure TK's trying to get his mind off of everything. Besides, he's with Kari right now. I'd rather not bother them" he said casually.

"Still thinking he'll tell her at some point" Matt asked with a small smirk. "I told him he should last night, but I couldn't tell if he was being arrogant or just oblivious to his own feelings".

"What are you talking about?" Sora asked with a sideways glance. Both Tai and Matt responded by looking at her with amused smiles, causing Sora to immediately jump to a conclusion. "Wait, are you saying TK likes Kari? Like in a romantic way?"

"Well, I'm sure all of us had a feeling he does," Tai began while picking up a menu "but after last night I'm convinced he is".

"Last night? What happened last night?" Sora asked, turning her head towards Matt.

"Well first off he inadvertently compared his relationship with Kari to ours, and then he basically told TK he's willing to die for her even though Kari told him not to" Matt explained. "I talked to him about it last night when I was dropping him off. It was funny, he wasn't denying anything; he actually seemed like he was putting some serious thought into what I said".

"Kind of unfortunate this is how it was brought up, but I guess it is what it is" Sora said out loud, though with a look of happiness on her face. "I'm guessing the two of you think that Kari feels the same way?"

"There's a reason why she was so upset with him" Tai said with a shrug. "I mean it's not like Kari can slap very hard, but I've never seen her angry enough to actually hit anyone, especially TK".

"Wait, she slapped TK? Why would you let Kari slap him, Tai?" Sora demanded.

"Hey I stepped in right afterwards" Tai answered defensively. "And it's not like I could tell she was about to slap him" Tai told the red-head, slightly altering the truth to protect himself. "But obviously they were able to resolve everything considering they had lunch together and are apparently skipping the rest of school to hang out".

"Well still…"Sora said awkwardly, unsure if there was much more Tai could've done. "At least they're not mad each other anymore…Do you really think they like each other in that way?" she asked with a hint of happiness.

"I don't see how they couldn't" Matt told Sora as he wrapped an arm around her. "But let's not get carried away. If they do like each other like that then they'll have to figure it out on their own. We can't get involved in any of this".

"So that means no telling Mimi" Tai said jokingly. "I know she's in America, but we have to keep this from the girl at all costs. Who knows what she's capable of" he finished, laughing.

"Anyways" Izzy suddenly said, getting the attention of his less mature friends. "Back to the reason why we came here today. What are we supposed to do about Daemon? I'm sure it's only a matter of time before he stops waiting for TK to come to him. I don't want to jump to any conclusions, but if Daemon can make a portal into the Digital World then he's bound to be able to make when into here".

"Do you really think that he's powerful enough to do that?" Tai asked worriedly.

"He has to be" Izzy said with a sigh. "I had Daemon analyzed by the Digimon analyzer, and this guy is bad. He has enough power to take on any of the Digimon Sovereigns one-on-one, and if he can draw power from the Dark Ocean then he'll be virtually unstoppable when there, so I don't think going to face him on his terms is exactly the smartest idea".

"Did it say anything else about him? Any weaknesses?" Matt asked the red-haired genius, hoping he would say something that would help them.

Sighing, Izzy said "No Matt, it didn't. According to the analyzer, he's one of the oldest Digimon alive. It's not going to have all information about Daemon. In fact, it didn't really have a whole lot of information that we didn't already know".

"So basically all we know about Daemon is what Gennai told us? That doesn't help us a whole lot" Tai said while closing his eyes and leaning back. "We're going to have to make sure that someone who can digivolve into Mega is with TK at all times. I know MagnaAngemon was able to hold him off on his own last time, but we have to assume that was a fluke by Daemon; we can't go around and think Patamon can handle him alone".

"I know that no one particularly wants to hear this, but maybe the best thing to do is use TK as bait" Matt whispered after a moment of silence, struggling to get the words out and looking down. Matt knew that the others were each giving him shocked expressions even though he could not see their faces. "Look, I don't like the idea any more than any of you, but MagnaAngemon was the only one of our Digimon able to hold his own against Daemon. If we can get out strongest Digimon together and face him all together than maybe we can beat him" Matt finished, mentally hating himself for even making such a suggestion.

"Matt, we're not going to resort to that" Sora said sternly. "I don't care how strong he is, we can stop him, do you understand me? We're stronger than him and we're not going to let him hurt anyone, especially TK".

"Sora's right Matt. TK's like a little brother to all of us. We're not desperate Matt, at least not yet" Tai told the blonde. "I now you're just trying to find a solution to this, but there's a better way. Besides, it's too risky to let TK do that. If we can't beat Daemon together than we'll practically be handing TK over to Daemon. None of us are going to let that happen".

"I think we're missing the point guys" Izzy told the others after a brief moment. "I think we should be trying to find out what Daemon wants with TK".

"He probably wants to see TK dead. Matt's right, MagnaAngemon was the only one able to face him alone, and he's just an Ultimate-level Digimon. He's probably worried that if Patamon is able to ever digivolve to Mega, then he'll be strong enough to stop whatever it is he has planned" Tai said logically. "And the fact that he shot that huge fireball at TK should be evidence enough that he wants TK out of the picture".

"Or maybe Daemon is still trying to get to Kari" Sora said, giving her input. "I mean it's no secret that TK is willing to do whatever it takes to protect Kari. Maybe Daemon knows this and wants to get rid of him so he can't get to Kari".

"I don't think so guys" Izzy told Tai and Sora. "I mean if Daemon wanted Kari, why he would bother going through TK. That would mean he's just making his plans harder for himself; it would be similar to Myotismon trying to find Tai and kill him when he was searching for Kari. He would just be making unnecessary work for himself. And I don't think your idea makes any sense either Tai" Izzy said, turning his head towards their leader. "Maybe he directed an attack towards TK to try and bait MagnaAngemon into taking the hit directly. It would've been completely risky of him to do that if he does want TK alive, but he could've thought that the combination of MagnaAngemon and the rest of us would be too much for him to handle".

"What are you trying to get at Izzy?" Matt asked.

"Look guys, Daemon said it was time for TK to fulfill his destiny" Izzy began, taking a moment to look at each of his friends before he continued. "Daemon has a plan, and I think he expects TK to play a big role in it. Daemon needs TK to do something for him; it's only a matter of time before he gets more aggressive and comes for him directly".

"You think he's coming here?" Sora asked with worry.

Izzy nodded and said "I've already downloaded the program Gennai gave to TK into my laptop. Like I said, he'll eventually lose patience and come after TK directly, whether it's here or the Digital World".

"So, did it hurt TK?" Davis asked with a smirk as he and Kari walked into his family's apartment.

"Did what hurt? The scar?" TK asked with confusion as the two teenagers took a seat on the floor with Cody. Both Yolie and Ken were also present, sitting beside Davis on the couch. Following lunch, TK and Kari had spent the remainder of the day enjoying each other's company at the mall before receiving an e-mail from Davis inviting everyone to his apartment for some "down time". Unsure of what exactly Davis had meant by the e-mail, the two accepted the invitation and arrived at his apartment shortly after.

"No TK, not that. I mean when your mom dropped you on your head when you were born. I mean that's the only explanation I can think of for you being so stupid" he answered TK with a laugh. "I mean everyone would've expected me to do something like that, but you?"

"Haha, very funny Davis" TK said dryly. "Is that all you called us over here for? Because if it is then you're really wasting all of our time".

"Don't get worked up TK" Cody said rationally to TK. "You know Davis is just messing with you. In all actuality you should be glad he's making fun of you; it gives us all a sense of normality. After everything that's happened the past few days, we need some of that".

"And believe it or not, we really aren't here to do anything besides enjoy ourselves a little bit" Ken said casually. Hearing this, TK gave Ken a confused look and opened his mouth to say something but was stopped as Ken continued to speak. "It was Davis' idea. We all figured you could use a day off since…well you know" he said smiling. "Originally Davis suggested a 'Boy's Night Out', but-"

"But I convinced him you'd appreciate the company of people who have a fully functioning brain" Yolie piped in, cutting off Ken, though the purple-haired genius didn't seem to mind at all. In fact, TK noticed the young boy give his girlfriend and amused smile and nodded his head. "I mean I know Ken and Cody would be there, but Davis would just negate all of the positive in those two".

TK looked at everyone in the room with him and smiled, clearly appreciative of the friendly gesture his companions were trying to make, though it was clear he felt they were overreacting. "Thanks guys, I really appreciate it, but really I'm fine. I know I should be worried, but I'm not. None of you have to worry about me, ok?"

"You know they're right TK" Kari told the blonde softly. Reaching out her hand so that she could touch the blonde affectionately, Kari continued "Remember yesterday when you said you wanted to help me? Well this is the same thing. I know you're ok, we all do. But that doesn't mean you have to be strong in front of us. It's ok to let your guard down with us; no one expects you to get through this alone". As she finished, Kari gave TK a small smile, one that reminded TK of a child filled with hope. Seeing her smile, TK couldn't help but begin to give into his friends' request. He felt as his heart began to pound into his chest, causing him to shift nervously where he stood.

"I…I guess a little down time never hurt anyone" he finally managed to say, though the other Digidestined were barely able to hear him. However, the only person he truly wanted to hear what he had said was Kari. He repositioned himself so that the two were standing directly in front of each other, with very little room separating them. Meeting her eyes, TK found himself beginning to lose all of sense of where he was or what he was doing. All that mattered was that she was there with him.

"This is just getting sad" Davis finally said, snapping TK out of his "trance". He turned back towards Kari and realized that she too must've been feeling the same way he had since he had noticed her jump when Davis had spoken. Each looked around at the others who were staring back at them, smirks clear on their face. TK soon found himself wondering about just how long the two friends had been staring at each other. Immediately he felt himself begin to blush, and turned to see that Kari was also having this same reaction. Rolling his eyes, Davis stood up from the couch and began to walk towards is room. "Geez, I swear you two…I knew this should've been a guy's-only night." he muttered. "Give me five minutes and we'll head out" Davis said loud enough for everyone to hear before closing his bedroom door.

TK silently placed a blanket over Kari's still body and felt a smile form on his lips, his mind beginning to remember how he had got into this position. Shortly after leaving Davis' house earlier in the day, the group had decided to have a movie night together at TK's house since his mother once again had to stay at the office late. After picking up their respective Digimon, the night flew by as the children and their partners enjoyed dinner together, and soon they finished the first of the movies they had rented. However, half-way through the second film, all of the Digimon and the Digidestined had managed to doze off. For the Digimon, the children had rented them their own movie and let them watch in TK's room where they were now fast asleep, each one randomly sprawled out on TK's bed. In the living room, Davis was stretched over most of the couch clearly making himself comfortable in his blonde companion's home. On the right of him was Cody, who had curled up into a small ball in a nearby loveseat. At the base of the couch, Ken had an arm wrapped around Yolie, holding her close to keep both of them warm. As TK observed this, he couldn't help but laugh at how ironic their relationship was. To him, it seemed their personalities were completely different, yet it was because of that that they seemed good together. In fact, he found the best way to describe the two of them was to compare them to pieces of a jigsaw puzzle: their features lined up perfectly. Finally, he turned his attention back the young brunette on the floor. Like Ken and Yolie, TK ad Kari positioned themselves next to each other on the floor, though clearly in a less intimate position as the two were simply sitting next to each other. However, as the hours passed, Kari began to lean on TK as weariness began to take her over and it didn't take long before she fell asleep on his arm.

As soon as he had discovered that Kari and the others had fallen asleep, TK allowed himself to take a short nap before waking up as soon as the last movie had ended. As cautiously as he could, he slowly laid Kari's head on the floor and went to get a blanket, covering her so that she could stay warm. TK continued to stare at his best friend rather nervously, though he couldn't quite put his finger on why that was so. "Maybe Matt was right" TK whispered to himself as Kari began to shift in her sleep. Rolling over to her side, Kari's face was now facing TK, allowing him to discover the cute smile that had formed on her lips. TK extended a hand and tucked a stray strand of hair behind Kari's ear and said "I should probably wake you up and get you home. I'm sure Tai won't appreciate me keeping you out much later…But I guess a few more minutes wouldn't hurt".

Getting up, TK made his towards the kitchen where he poured himself a glass of water. "Can you get me one?" TK jumped as he heard a voice from behind him, turning around to discover Davis entering the kitchen. "I'm glad our parents haven't started calling yet. Granted, I'm sure that won't be the case much longer".

"Yeah, we'll probably have to get everybody up soon" TK said as he handed Davis a glass. "Maybe they wouldn't mind this happening on a weekend, but with it being a school night we might be pushing it" he said sarcastically. After Davis filled up his glass and took a drink, TK said "You know, this was a good idea Davis. I'm glad we did it".

"Good, I'm glad you enjoyed it" Davis said with a nod as he walked back to the entrance way and leaned on the wall, allowing him to face TK. Likewise, TK walked to the entranceway and leaned on the door frame so that he could face the rest of the group. Once again, he found himself looking specifically at Kari, who hadn't moved since TK had left. "Would you do it again?" Davis asked suddenly, drawing a confused look from TK. "After everything that's happened, would you still go after Daemon alone if you still thought he was after Kari?" he clarified.

TK thought about the question for a moment, unsure of why Davis would so randomly ask that type of question. "Yeah Davis, I would in a heartbeat" he said in a semi-casual tone. "I know that's stupid of me to say, but…she's worth it" he finished.

"Does she know that's how you feel?" Davis asked after a moment. TK shrugged at the question, letting Davis know that he didn't have a good answer for him. "You know, when we first met, I thought that if I kept letting Kari know how I feel then she'd eventually feel the same way. But now I know that's not how it works; it has to come naturally. And seeing you two, I believe that now more than ever".

"What are you trying to get at Davis" TK asked after he thought over Davis' words.

"Look TK," Davis began "I'll never understand the connection you and Kari have; no one will. I mean, you've chased Kari to a different dimension when no one else could; you've always been there for her…After all of that, you don't think that there might be a part of you that views Kari as more than just a friend?"

TK turned away from Davis but continued to listen until the brunette had stopped talking. Closing his eyes, TK's mind began to recount everything that had happened over the past few days, specifically during the times when he had been with Kari. As a result, he began to feel his heart beat harder in his chest, and he found himself having to take deeper breaths. Finally, he opened his eyes and stole a glance at Kari before turning his head to Davis. "I don't know Davis".

Izzy closed his laptop and sighed, trying to clear his head. For the past few days, he had worked tirelessly trying to figure out what it was that Daemon wanted from TK, consequently losing hours of sleep. Leaning back into his chair, Izzy looked at his wall clock and muttered "Looks like I missed class" after realizing it was nearly four in the afternoon. Rubbing his eyes, Izzy stood up and walked to the kitchen. Opening the refrigerator door, Izzy began to look for something to snack on when he suddenly heard a beeping noise coming from his room. "No…" he whispered to himself after a moment of shock, closing the refrigerator door and cautiously began to make his way to his room. As he walked in, he immediately noticed that the noise was originating from his laptop.

"Please be an e-mail…Please be an e-mail" Izzy begged to no one. He reached out his hand and opened his laptop, continuing to plead into the air. After a brief moment that seemed to last an eternity for Izzy, the computer screen li up and revealed a map of Obadia. Moving all across the screen was a red circle with a cross in the middle. "Please don't be a portal" Izzy muttered as the tracer continued to work. After a few more seconds of moving, the circle finally settled on an area that represented the outskirts of town. When the movement had stopped, a message popped up onto the screen and displayed: **Confirmed portal opening. ETA of subject 1 hour.**

**Thanks for reading and please review, I enjoy reading them**


	14. Sacrifice

**Hey everyone. I know, it's been about two months since I lase updated and I go give my most sincere apologies. Unfortunately I don't have a particularly good excuse, just have been working a lot. Also, I had a hard time starting this chapter and I often tried to find a good stopping place, but nothing seemed right. Thus, this chapter is easily the longest yet for this story, if you haven't noticed already. Just so you don't get confused, most of the "scene changes" in this chapter are either a quick jump in time or a shift in perspective. Anyways, please enjoy and I hope you enjoy. **

**Disclaimer:**** I do not own Digimon**

Davis ran down the hall as fast as he could towards the school's front entrance, doing his best to email the rest of the Digidestined on his D-terminal. As he turned a corner, he suddenly ran into another person, sending both bodies falling to the ground. "I'm sorry" he began quickly, doing his best to quickly get to his feet. "I'm in a really big hurry and-"

"Did you get the email too?" he heard the other person say, the voice clearly belonging to a girl. Davis took a quick glance and discovered the person he had in fact run into was Yolie, who he realized had also been heading for the exit.

"Yeah, Ken sent it to me a couple of minutes ago. Listen we have a problem" Davis began to tell Yolie as the two began to once again run. "Tai and all of the older kids are in class; they turned their D-terminals off. It's just going to be us against Daemon" Davis said.

"Has anyone emailed you back?" she asked, unsure of how to respond to Davis' news, though she knew that the ensuing battle would be far from pretty.

"Cody said he'll use a digiport to get close and meet us there" Davis responded after he looked as his D-terminal. "And Ken said the same thing".

"What about TK and Kari? \They haven't said anything?" Yolie asked frantically, pulling out her Digivice from her pocket. Seeing Davis shake his head no, Yolie sighed out of frustration and asked "Great, when we need them the most they're nowhere to be found. You brought Veemon right?"

"Yeah, he's hiding in the parking lot with Hawkmon" he said, practically jumping through the door that led to the outside. "Ken said that the portal is opening near the outskirts of town; apparently it's close to a park".

"A park?" Yolie asked surprised, but quickly recovered. "That explains a lot" she muttered to herself. "Aquilamon will get us there the fastest; hopefully there won't be whole lot of people watching".

"But what about TK and Kari? We're going to need them if Tai and Matt aren't going to be there to help us" he asked as the two reached the parking lot.

"Don't worry," she began, stopping to look at Davis "I know where they're at; we'll meet them there".

Patamon! Just give her the last rice ball; you're not going to get it away from her!" TK yelled at his Digimon partner. He continued to watch and smile as he saw the rookie-level Digimon wrestle with the much stronger champion-level Digimon, Gatomon, in a park located on the outskirts Obadia.

"But I had my eyes on it first!" he protested as Gatomon finally yanked it out of his grasps. The white, cat-like Digimon jumped in victory with a laugh and hopped into Kari's lap. "Survival of the fittest Patamon" she told Patamon jokingly.

"Gatomon, be nice" she told her partner with a smile. Taking the rice ball away from her Digimon partner, she tore the small ball in half and tossed one half of it to Patamon and gave the rest to Gatomon. Both Digimon began to greedily consume their respective portions. Laughing, Kari turned her attention to her blonde friend, who was sitting close by, supporting himself with his arms. "You know TK, we can't keep doing this. At some point the school will find out we've been skipping so much and call our parents".

"Yeah, but why worry about it if it hasn't happened yet?" he said with a smirk. "Besides this is only the third time we've ever done this".

"Yeah , the third time in two weeks TK" she told him in an obvious tone. "I mean don't get me wrong, spending so much time with you has been great, but I don't want you to get into trouble just because of me".

"That's not really you're choice to make Kari" he responded with a smile. "But if it worries you that much than I promise that this will be the last time". Hearing this, Kari gave TK a small smile and turned her attention to the sky. "It's a really nice day" TK said, speaking both his and Kari's thoughts.

"Yeah…On a day like this it's hard to believe that that someone like Daemon is out there" Kari said quietly. "I see why you wanted to stop Daemon so bad TK. Ever since we fought Daemon, all I can think about is how this might be the day that he comes after you; I can't stop thinking about how this might be the last time I see you" she told him, though TK could clearly tell she was deep in her thoughts.

"I'm not going anywhere Kari" TK told the young brunette softly. "I know it looks bad now, but it's never been easy when it came to Digimon. As long as we stick together, there isn't anything we can't handle".

"How can you be so sure TK?" Kari asked.

TK thought about Kari's question for a moment, caught off guard by the question. "Because," he finally began "it's just a part of having hope".

"Suddenly having hope seems like a bad thing" she responded dryly after a moment. The two sat in an unfamiliar silence as the teenagers contemplated what to do next, both anxious to return to a lighter subject. "So…graduation is almost a year away" TK began quietly, drawing a surprised look from Kari. "Yeah?" she replied, clearly caught off guard.

"Do you ever think about what you're going to do? I mean, do you know where you want to go to college?" he asked nervously.

"I guess now would be a good time to start thinking about it. After all, we'll need start sending out applications fairly soon" she began thoughtfully. "But honestly I don't know…What about you TK? Do you have any ideas? I'm sure someone there are plenty of places that have offered you a scholarship".

"Yeah, a few" he told her, though clearly embarrassed that she had guessed correctly. "I don't really know about any of them though. Besides, I don't particularly want to be in school just for basketball. It's not that I want to stop playing, I just don't want the rest of my life to be defined by basketball".

"That's understandable TK" she told her TK. "You know, you've let me read some of your papers in Literature class…it's really good. It kind of seems like that's something that would be right up your alley".

"Yeah, maybe" he said with a smirk. "I've always thought about writing, I just don't know if I'll ever be able to come up with something that everyone would want to read about".

"Really TK?" she asked with a friendly laugh. "After everything we've been through, there isn't anything that would be interesting enough to write about? I find that really hard to believe" she continued to say.

"Yeah, I guess the Digimon would be a good place to start writing" he said with a smile. Lifting his head towards the sky, to looked back towards the city and began to say "Anyways, the reason I asked is because I was wond-"

"Wondering what TK?" Kari asked after TK had stopped talking for a few moments, perplexed that he had suddenly stopped himself in mid-sentence. "TK?" she began to ask worriedly after TK failed to answer her. "TK, what is it?"

"Look," TK told her, pointing at the sky, "it's Aquilamon".

"What are you doing here?" Davis yelled as Aquilamon landed in the park, not caring about all the frightened looks that the massive Digimon had received. "And where are your D-terminals? We've been trying to reach you for the last 15 minutes!" he continued to rant.

"Davis slow down, what's the matter?" Kari asked as she and TK stopped in front of Davis, Yolie, and Veemon.

"It's Daemon Kari" Yolie began to explain. "I don't know how, but he somehow knew that you and TK were here. There's a portal opening somewhere nearby" she said frantically. As she finished, she took notice of TK, his demeanor suddenly changing from surprise to fear. "And it gets worse. Sora and the others are in class so they're D-terminals are either turned off or out of reach. We're going to be alone this time".

"Where are Cody and K-"

"Right here" Ken panted as he and Cody ran up behind TK, consequently cutting him off. In their arms were Wormmon and Armadillomon, respectively. "The last time I looked, the portal was going to open in about 20 minutes…that was almost 15 minutes ago" Ken said after looking at his watch.

"We're not going to have enough power to stop him" Cody commented out loud. "We have to get Matt and Tai if we want a shot at sending Daemon back to the Dark Ocean…We're going to have to split up" he concluded, looking each of his fellow Digidestined in the eyes.

"Cody can go" TK immediately said. "We're going to need MagnaAngemon for this fight, and that means Armadillomon will only be able to digivolve to Champion; he'll just be an easy target for Daemon" he said, turning his attention to Cody.

"No" Ken said. "TK, we know that MagnaAngemon probably has the best chance at holding off Daemon, but we can't risk him getting close to you since you're the one he wants. We need to get you as far away from Daemon as possible, at least until we're at full strength".

"What!" TK exclaimed. "Daemon is too powerful; MagnaAngemon is the only one who can hold him off long enough for the others to get here".

"TK, Ken's right. This is too big of a risk and quite frankly, the reward isn't big enough" Yolie said in support of her boyfriend. "If he gets a hold of you then it's pretty much game over for us".

"And what if I don't get back in time?" TK demanded. "If I'm not here then he might decide it's better if none of you were around. I'm not taking that risk".

"TK, you have to go" Kari said quietly, drawing TK's attention towards her. "You're right TK, we don't stand much of a chance against Daemon without MagnaAngemon, but that doesn't mean you have to throw yourself in harm's way just because you think you're our only chance". Taking a few steps towards TK, Kari caressed his face in her hand and looked into his eyes before continuing. "We can hold him off long enough for to get the others…If it was me you'd want me to do it TK. I'm begging you…please, you have to go".

Breathing heavily, TK lifted his head from Kari's face and looked at the others who were all staring at him, unsure of what he was about to do. Finally bringing his gaze back to Kari he whispered "You better be ok when I get back".

A single tear rolled down Kari's face as she closed her eyes and took a step away from the tall blonde "I will TK" she whispered back. "Alright, we're going to have to hurry" Ken began, drawing TK's attention away from Kari. "It's obvious Daemon is tired of waiting for TK to come to him, so we have to conceal you as much as possible. You're going to have to run to get to the others; we can't run the risk of Daemon seeing Pegasusmon or Angemon".

"If I'm running, the rest of you are going to have to be able to hold him off for at least 40 minutes, if not more" TK quietly stated, worry etched in his voice. "Are you sure you can hold him off for that long?"

"We're going to have to" Davis stated, walking to his side. "Go TK, we'll buy you as much time as we can." When he reached the blonde's side, we lowered his voice so that only he could hear him, getting close to his ear and said "Don't worry about Kari; we won't let anything happen to her".

TK stared at Davis' face and nodded before taking long, last look at Kari. Kari looked directly back at TK, forcing a smile onto her face in hopes of assuring him of her safety. Finally, TK broke the gaze and began to run as fast as he could towards the city, followed closely behind by Patamon. "You don't think we're going to be able to hold him off, do you Davis?" Kari asked as she continued to watch TK run.

Davis sighed as he take a position beside Kari "No…But let's hope I'm wrong".

Minutes later, the Digidestined and their Digimon watched a circular portal open a few, short yards in front of them. Kari glanced off to the side and was relieved to see that TK was now completely out of sight, letting her know that he was at least safe for a few more moments. Beside her stood Yolie, who held a very determined look on her face. Standing directly behind them stood Silphymon, the DNA combination of Gatomon and Aquilamon. The ultimate-level Digimon stood on two, muscular legs that strongly resembled Aquilamon's, and he had two, white paws for hands that had four eagle feathers sticking out of the forearms. Her white chest was covered by a metal plate, and her head resembled that of a human, though his eyes were covered by a visor that had two long cat ears attaches to the side. Directly next to the Digimon was Ankylomon and Imperialdramon, who had already transformed into his fighter mode.

The children heard the evil Digimon before seeing him, as his evil laugh echoed throughout the empty park. "Hmm, there seems to be someone missing" Daemon taunted as he became fully visible. "Perhaps that head injury of his put some sense into him". Upon hearing this, Kari took a small step forward and appeared to be ready to say something before Yolie grabbed her arm and restrained her. "Kari, keep your cool. We can't afford any mistakes right now".

"What do you want with TK Daemon? He's never had a Dark Spore in him, so how do you expect him to help you?" Ken yelled across the field.

Daemon chuckled as he heard the question, and began to walk towards the group. "Emperor," Daemon began with a sneer, making Ken grimace as he was referred to by his 'old name', "I should thank you for what you did six years ago. I admit that I was arrogant during our first encounter, but the time I have spent in the Dark Ocean has made me wiser beyond comprehension. It was there that I learned of a far greater power than those pathetic spores; it was there that I learned my true destiny. And now all that stands in between me and that destiny are the five of you. However, that will not be the case for long!"

"TK! What are you doing? We have to hurry!" Patamon exclaimed as he saw his partner stop and look back to where they had come from. It had been nearly ten minutes since the pair had left to find help, and there were now just entering the city.

"This isn't right Patamon; I shouldn't have left them" TK said to his partner as he tried to work through this internal dilemma. "If anything happens to them it's going to be my fault. And if anything happens to Kari then I-"

"TK we're doing what we have to do" Patamon said as he cut the blonde off. "And the more time you spend arguing with yourself about it, the more danger we'll be putting them in. TK, they knew the risk that they were taking when they told you to go. There doing this because you're their only hope".

"I know Patamon," TK quietly mumbled, taking one last glance behind him "I am their only hope".

"Evil Inferno!" Daemon yelled, sending a fire ball towards Silphymon. Seeing the attack, Silphymon quickly began to fly away from the attack by performing a corkscrew maneuver in the air. After a few moments, Daemon's attack evaporated in the air.

"Static Force!" Silphymon yelled after she was out of harm's way. A ball of energy began to form in the palm of her hands, and she quickly sent in flying towards Daemon. "Hahaha!" Daemon yelled as the Silphymon's attack hit him and left no damage. "This is pathetic! If you're going to defy me, at least make this a challenge!"

"We'll show you! Positron Laser!" Imperialdramon attacked with his massive arm cannon. A blue beam of energy came out of the canon and headed for Daemon, but the demon Digimon easily avoided the attack, letting it destroy a nearby tree. As he did this, Daemon noticed Ankylomon charging towards him, the Digimon's mighty tale raised in preparation of an attack.

"Tail Hamm-" the dinosaur-Digimon began, but was cut off as Daemon grabbed his body and threw him at Imperialdramon, sending both Digimon to the ground with a loud crash. Returning his attention to Silphymon, Daemon flew up towards the ultimate-level Digimon and grabbed her by the neck. With a tight grip, Daemon threw Silphymon at Ankylomon and Imperialdramon, who were trying to return to their upright positions before Silphymon had crashed into them.

"Ken, how long has it been?" Davis asked nervously as he and the other Digidestined watched their partners in a losing effort.

"About twenty minutes at the most" he responded in as equally nervous tone. "I don't think they're going to last much longer".

"Good observation" Daemon said as he landed in front of the group. Shocked, all of the children took a nervous step backwards, causing Daemon to release an evil chuckle. "Are you ready to hand him over?"

"We'll never let you have him!" Cody yelled defiantly at the evil Digimon. Clearly angered by his answer, Daemon began to glare at Cody and said "Incompetent little boy! You will be the first to die!" Taking a step forward, Daemon raised his arm in preparation for an attack.

"Electro Shocker!" suddenly, a massive ball of electricity flew in from behind the children, hitting Daemon in the chest. Momentarily shocked, Daemon was unprepared as a large, beetle-like creature charged into him and knocked him off his feet, after which he landed in front of the Digidestined, still facing Daemon. The blue-ish purple Digimon stood on two legs and had four long, muscular arms extending from his chest. His head was a dark grey color and resembled a beetle's head with its long horn protruding from his body.

"Kabuterimon!" Kari exclaimed as she recognized Tentomon's champion form. Turning around, she saw Izzy running up to join the others, though it was clear that he was alone. "Guys," he exclaimed as he reached the others "we need to try and drive Daemon farther away from the city. We're going to start hitting innocent bystanders if we stay here much longer".

"Izzy, where's TK and the others?" Davis asked nervously. "We sent him to the college to get the others" he quickly explained.

"I didn't go to class today" Izzy responded. "I saw a portal opening near here on my computer and I figured it was Daemon coming after TK again. Looks like I was right" he finished dryly.

"Izzy, we're not putting up much of a fight against Daemon" Yolie told the red-haired genius. "We're going to need more than just another Champion-level Digimon to fight him.

"Right," Izzy said with a look of pure determination "I'll take care of that. Kabuterimon, it's time to digivolve!"

"Kabuterimon digivolve to…MegaKabuterimon!" After Kabuterimon's transformation was complete, he revealed to have changed into a much larger insect-Digimon. He was now covered in a red armor, with only his four hands and two feet being purple. On his back, he was protected by a giant red shell with a green orb resting near the top of his back. MegaKabuterimon's head closely resembled his previous form, but his head was now red like the rest of his body and the horn that protruded from his forehead had split into two at the top, making it appear as a pitchfork. As he finished digivolving, the rest of the Digimon joined his side as Daemon just began to pick himself up.

"I'm getting tired of this constant annoyance" Daemon said as he rose. "Do you think one more Digimon will make any difference? You will burn with the rest of them!" Daemon sneered at MegaKabuterimon.

"Quick, everyone attack him together" Imperialdramon told the others, raising his right arm. "Positron Laser!"

"Tail Hammer!"

"Static Force!"

"Horn Buster!" MegaKabuterimon attacked, sending out a blast of lighting from the top of his horn. Joining with the other Digimon's attacks, they all converged onto Daemon, resulting in a massive explosion, followed by a large cloud of smoke, concealing Daemon and his surroundings. "Did we get him" Davis asked as silence overtook the park.

Before anyone had a chance to respond, Daemon tore out of the curtain of smoke and headed directly toward Ankylomon, easily knocking him over. Taking advantage of his opponent's sudden confusion, Daemon quickly grabbed MegaKabuterimon by the horn and threw the much larger Digimon at Imperialdramon as he prepared to fire another shot at the evil Digimon. Initially, Imperialdramon was able to avoid MegaKabuterimon by jumping to the side, but was unprepared as Daemon attacked the dragon-like Digimon with his claws.

"Astral Laser" Silphymon yelled, sending an exact replica of herself made entirely of energy. The beam hit Daemon just as he was raising his arm in preparation of an attack. Having been hit by the laser, Daemon turned his attention towards Silphymon, clearly angered by her intervention.

"I've wasted enough time with you four" Daemon muttered as he took Imperialdramon by his throat and threw him at Silphymon, knocking both of the Digimon to the ground in front of the Digidestined. "Silphymon!" Kari screamed as her and Yolie's partner was crushed under Imperialdramon's weight. In response, all Kari heard was a painful groan from both Digimon.

As soon as they saw what had transpired, both Ankylomon and MegaKabuterimon joined their injured comrades, ready to defend them from Daemon. "Perfect, just where I wanted all of you" Daemon said with a laugh before raising his right arm "EVIL INFERNO!" At his words, a massive fireball erupted from Daemon's hand, heading straight towards the Digimon and their human partners. Instinctively, MegaKabuterimon stepped in front of everyone, intending to take the brunt of the blow but was shocked to see the flames explode upon contact with him and easily reach the others. Daemon laughed as he watched his attack send all of the Digimon flying back into their human partners. As the Digimon crashed into the ground, another large explosion erupted from the remains of Daemon's attack, knocking the children onto their backs. Daemon watched as his attack consumed the rest of his opponent's energy, forcing them back into their weakest forms, and began to make his way to the now defenseless children.

Kari groaned as the ringing in her ears continued. Covering them with her arms, she opened her eyes and was shocked to see the destruction around her. All around her, the trees and the ground had fresh burn marks on them, and she saw each one of her friends lying on the ground, unconscious. Finally, just as Kari began to recover from her initial shock, she looked ahead of her and gasped as each one of their partner Digimon had been forced back into their Rookie form, their powers depleted from the previous battle. Instinctively, Kari began to crawl towards Gatomon, too weak to walk, groaning in pain with each movement.

After moving only a few short feet, Kari dipped her head in pain as she continued to struggle, unaware of the powerful Digimon that landed directly in front of her. Finally, as she raised her head so that she could continue moving, she muffled a scream and began to breath nervously as she looked up at Daemon and did her best to back away from him. "Are you ready to tell me what I want to know?" the evil Digimon asked. "If not then I'll be forced to use…aggressive tactics on you".

"What do you want with TK?" she asked, clearly frightened. "You're crazy if you think he'd ever help you?" she told him after he remained silent.

"Then join me in my madness" he said as he reached down and grabbed her by her throat. "Ironic, isn't it? That he would risk everything for you, and in the end, you will be his ultimate demise" he finished as he began to apply pressure to her throat. "Now tell me, where is he?"

As soon as Daemon had stared to choke her, Kari began to try and pry his hands loose. Shaking her head to tell him no, Kari said "I'm not going tell you anything ".

"Wrong answer" he responded with a sneer, tightening his grip around her throat. Kari gasped for air as he did this, and began to kick the air wildly with her feet, doing anything she could to escape his grasp. "One last chance: Where is he?" he asked, bringing her to his eye level. Kari said nothing as she continued to struggle for her life, using both arms to try and pry his grip. "Then you die" Daemon said, realizing that Kari would rather die than betray her comrade. Squeezing tighter, Kari continued to kick as she felt her eyes roll into the back of her head. Knowing she was about to slip into darkness, she doubled her efforts to break free of Daemon just as her vision started to fade. Soon, she felt herself surrounded by darkness and knew that this was the end for her. Slowly, she began to struggle less and less as her strength became to betray her and she became to succumb to the darkness. "I'm sorry TK" she managed to say before she fell into unconsciousness.

"LET HER GO DAEMON!" Daemon suddenly heard, prompting him to turn his head. After seeing who is was that had yelled at him, he began to laugh, clearly amused as he shifted his focus to the defenseless TK. "I'm the one you want right? So just let her go and I'll go with you" TK said nervously, having just arrived to the scene. Daemon turned himself so that his body was facing TK, and lowered the arm that was still holding Kari's limp body. "And where is that flying pig?" Daemon asked, clearly referring to Patamon.

"It's just me" TK said plainly. "Let her live, and you can do whatever you want with me. Kill me, lock me up somewhere, I don't care….Just let her go". TK held his breath as the two continued to stare at each other, both unsure if the other were trying to set a trap. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity to TK, Daemon released his grip on Kari's neck, letting her fall to the ground.

Almost immediately, TK ran to Kari's side, caressing her head in his arms as he knelt beside her. "Kari?" he whispered, hoping she would give some sign that she was ok. "Kari, can you hear me?" He continued to fill with worry as she lay limp in his arms, but after a few moments, he noticed her chest begin to barely rise and fall. Breathing a sigh of relief, TK removed his jacket and covered her with it before turning his attention back to Daemon. "How do I know you're not going to kill her?" he demanded.

"If I wanted her dead, I would've killed her and then simply taken you" Daemon told him. "She is insignificant to my plans; I have no need to kill her…at least not yet. For now, she'll live" he finished coldly. Now Child of Hope, we had a deal". With that, Daemon lunged at TK, grasping him in a similar fashion to the way he had held Kari. "You've made a foolish mistake boy. You have doomed the world, and for what? To save the life on an insignificant girl?" After taking a hold of him by his neck, Daemon pressed TK against a nearby wall, though he didn't tighten his grip to choke the young blonde. Daemon raised his right arm and placed it right above TK's head and said "Soon, I will rule the worlds and destroy anything and anyone in my path. You should consider yourself lucky boy, because it through you, all of this shall come to pass". As he finished, Daemon placed his hovering hand onto his forehead, resulting in a grunt of pain from TK.

TK couldn't describe what he was feeling as Daemon placed his hand on the blonde's head; it was almost like someone was sticking a burning hot knife into his head. The only thing he knew was that it caused a sheering pain to erupt from his head and spread to the rest of his body. Upon the contact, TK began to try to remove Daemon's hand with both of his in a desperate attempt to end his pain. "Stop….please" he finally began to plead after he had become too weak to resist Daemon anymore. TK continued to cry in pain until Daemon finally let him go, letting his body hit the ground since TK had become too weak to support himself. As he hit the floor, he felt himself began to lose sense of where he was as a dark cloud began to invade his vision. TK desperately began to crawl away from Daemon, and soon found himself laying by Kari as he lost all of his strength and collapsed. He heard Daemon's laugh and footsteps as the demonic Digimon reached TK and placed a foot in the middle of his back, pinning him in place. Raising an arm, a portal began to appear before the two, and TK shuddered as the world of the Dark Ocean appeared inside of the portal. "Now, Child of Hope, we will begin my conquest to take over the world" Daemon said, clearly amused. Grabbing him by the collar, TK was powerless to resist the Digimon's superior strength as he was pulled towards the portal. Knowing that what was about to happen next would likely result in his death, TK took one last look at Kari to ensure she was still alive before being dragged into the world of the Dark Ocean.

**Well I really hope all of you felt this chapter was worth waiting for. I now it was kind of a major cliffhanger, but I finally thought that this was an ideal place to stop. I would love to hear what all of you think so please take the time and review and I'll be sure to get the next chapter up sooner than this one did. Thanks for reading.**


	15. Kari's Choice

**So I can honestly say that this chapter came out faster than the last, though I admit it was a long wait. I'm not sure if this means anything but I was getting chapters out faster during the school year, which is about to start again, so hopefully that'll mean I'll be able update sooner. Well, I hope you enjoy this chapter.**

**Disclaimer:**** I don't own Digimon**

Kari groggily opened her eyes and immediately felt a pounding in her head. Clutching her head with both hands and shutting her eyes, she began taking deep, controlled breaths until the pain slowly began to fade. As the pain fully disappeared, Kari once again opened her eyes and began to observe her surroundings, quickly realizing that she was in her room, lying on her own bed. "What happened?" she whispered to herself.

Her attention shifted towards her bedroom door as she heard it begin to open. "Good, you're awake" a man said with a soft smile as he walked to Kari's bedside. The tall, lean man wasn't much older than Tai, and had shoulder length blue hair. Pushing his square glasses closer to his face, he said "Before you ask, the others are fine. A couple of bumps and bruises, but nothing a few hours of sleep can fix. I guess the Digimon took the brunt of Daemon's attack. Oh, and they're ok too. They're just resting" Joe Kido, the Digidestined's personal medical expert explained. Taking out a flash light from his pocket, Joe proceeded to shine the light in Kari's eyes and told her "And it looks like you're just like the others. Although I wouldn't get out of bed anytime soon; based off the redness of your eyes, you lost a lot of oxygen to your brain".

"Yeah" she responded, gently rubbing her neck "Daemon was sort of choking me".

"That would explain the bruises on your neck then" he said with a nod, standing up.

"Thanks for coming Joe" Kari said with a grateful smile "I know you were probably busy with school, and-"

"Don't start Kari" Joe told her, amused. "You know I would do anything for you guys. Besides, think of it as giving me a real-life scenario; really I should be thanking you" he finished with a smile. "Anyways, Tai was in a panic when he called, so I thought it was pretty serious. Turns out he was just over-reacting".

"If you had been there then you wouldn't have blamed me" Tai said as he walked through Kari's door, a gloomy and angry looking Matt followed closely behind him. "I can't believe you were able to get there in time" Kari told Tai with a smile as he reached the side of her bed. "I thought for sure I was a goner, but I guess TK was able to reach you guys on time". As she said this, she noticed Tai give Matt an awkward glance, who was staring at Kari, making her shift uncomfortably in bed.

"Kari, what was the last thing you remember?" Tai asked slowly.

"Um, Daemon had knocked all of us out except for me, but I could barely move. He grabbed me and started asking me where TK was and when I wouldn't tell him, he started choking me. After that I just blacked out" she quickly recounted. "But I'd imagine that you would've seen that if the three of you had gotten there in time to save me" she told Tai. As she finished, Matt gave her one last look and walked out of the room, clearly upset with her about something. Joe also exited the room, beginning to feel uncomfortable as he had an idea of what was about to happen. "Is he ok Tai? Maybe TK should go talk to him" she suggested. But as the words left her mouth, she realized that something, or rather someone, was missing. "Tai?" she began, "did…did TK get hurt? Did Daemon hurt him too?" she asked, scared to hear the answer.

"Kari…we no one has seen TK since he left for school. Nobody knows what happened to him after he left to get us" he told her hesitantly.

"No…he…he went to get help, he went to get the two of you. That's how you found us" she said with deep breaths.

"Kari…Patamon was the one that told us Daemon was here. TK wasn't with him" he slowly said. "When we got to the park, you, Izzy and the others were all unconscious on the ground; TK wasn't there". Walking towards Kari's dresser, Tai grabbed a jacket and brought it over to Kari, handing it to her; it was TK's, the same one he had been wearing this morning. "We found you a little bit further away from the others, and this was wrapped around you".

"You're lying" she said, shaking her head. "Where is he Tai? Where's TK?" she demanded, her whole body beginning to shake.

"Kari, he's not here…We…we think Daemon-"

"NO!" she screamed rushing to get out of bed.

"Kari!" Tai began, grabbing her arm in an attempt to make her lay down. "Kari, you need to rest".

"Get off of me Tai! You're lying!" she continued to yell as she broke free from his grip and ran to the doorway, intent on finding TK. "TK?!" she began to yell before exiting her room, telling herself that he was just simply on the couch waiting for her. "T-" Kari started to yell again, but stopped as she saw her family's couch. Sitting there was Patamon, who was curled up in the corner, clearly crying. "Patamon?" she asked as she felt tears begin to form in her eyes. Falling to her knees she let her tears begin to flow. Slowly, she began to realize what had happened. TK, who seemed to refuse to let anything happen to her, had told Patamon to get Tai and Matt alone. "He came back alone…He was the one that stopped Daemon from killing me" she managed to say through her sobs.

"And Daemon took him in exchange" Tai quietly said from behind her, having caught up with her a few seconds earlier. "We were hoping that wasn't the case but…Kari you did everything you could; this isn't you fault".

"No Tai, you're wrong" Kari told her older brother. "This is my fault".

TK slowly awoke to the sound of crashing waves, forcing himself to open his eyes despite the intense pounding in his head. Looking around, he found himself surrounded by three concrete walls, with the fourth sealed off by metal bars, and from what he could see there was no way to enter or leave his cell. But what frightened him the most was that he knew he was in the Dark Ocean, that much was for sure. Realizing this, TK got to his feet and walked to the bars holding him prisoner. Taking a deep breath, he began to pull at them with all of his strength, grunting in the process. Although he knew that it was a futile attempt, he couldn't bring himself to just give up; it wasn't in his nature.

Just as TK began to settle down and stop, he heard footsteps approaching him and stepped back as he saw Daemon moving towards him. "Welcome child, we've been waiting for you for a long time" he said. As he finished, TK noticed three dark creatures follow Daemon closely. Immediately, TK recognized the shadow figures as the creatures that had tried to kidnap Kari years before. Though they called themselves Scubamon, though he couldn't bring himself to believe that they were actually Digimon.

"What do you want with me Daemon?" TK demanded, knowing he sounded much braver than what he really was. "Why didn't you kill me back there?"

"Now why would I do that Child of Hope?" an amused Daemon asked. "No, you are the final piece to my plan. You are the one that holds the power to send all the worlds into oblivion. And then, my new world will rise and I will rule over everything. Nothing, not even you humans or the Sovereigns will be able to stop me".

"If you think that I'm going to help you destroy everything, then you're crazier than I thought. I'll never betray my friends to you" TK responded defiantly.

Letting out a small laugh Daemon walked towards the bar, which began to bend as he approached, making a large enough gap for him and the 'Scubamon' to enter. "I control everything in this world, and you are no different" he said, stopping only a few, short steps from TK. "Now I will give you one last chance help me willingly. Otherwise, I will drive you mad".

"Give it your best shot" TK responded with a determined look.

"Good," he said, seemingly amused "I wanted to break you". With that, Daemon outstretched his hand and place it on TK's head, just as he had in the park before kidnapping TK. Like before, TK immediately felt the same burning sensation throughout his body, and he collapsed to the ground in an attempt to escape, groaning in pain as he did. However, Daemon kept a firm grip on his head, allowing TK to only fall to his knees. Intending on intensifying his pain, Daemon placed his other claw onto TK's head, causing the young teen to jerk in pain as he continued to try and pry himself loose from Daemon's grasp.

Matt stood on Izzy's balcony as he waited for the others arrive, watching the busy Obadia streets. After Kari had woken up and discovered that TK was missing, the group decided to regroup at Izzy's house, hoping that together they'd be able to find some solution to the current predicament. The entire car ride there, Matt couldn't help but give cold glares to Kari, though she was completely oblivious to this as she had had her head down the whole time. As he continued to sit in silence, he heard the balcony door slide open, letting him know that someone was coming.

"Matt?" he recognized Sora's voice immediately, and turned to see her walking towards him. "Matt, are you alright?" she continued to ask in a soft voice. Shaking his head, Matt took a seat on a nearby chair and placed his head in his hands. "Sora," he began "It's not her fault; it's not Kari's fault, I know that. But why am I so angry at her? Every time I look at her I-"

"Stop it Matt. We both know it wasn't Kari's or anyone else's fault" she told him. "We both know you're mad at TK for doing what he thought was the right thing. And you're mad at yourself because you couldn't do anything about it. But that's not fair to anyone; Daemon just got the better of us this time. That doesn't mean we're going to let him win. Izzy is going to figure out a way to get to the Dark Ocean; we're going to get TK back. I promise".

"I know Sora…" Matt whispered. "What do I do then? How do I stop myself from being like this?"

"Be a friend Matt" she told him after she thought it over for a moment. "Realize that you're not the only one suffering because of this and help them. It's what TK would've wanted you to do. And Kari needs a friend right now. I'm not telling you to go talk to her now because I don't know if she's ready to listen to reason yet, but you should eventually. That's the only way you'll get over this".

TK slumped to the floor as Daemon released him, too weak to support his own weight. He didn't know how long it had been since Daemon had started torturing him, but he wouldn't have been surprised if it had been at least a few hours. "You have a strong will boy" Daemon said with a sneer. "I'll admit that it is impressive, but we both know you can't keep it up much longer". Turning around so that he could face the Scubamon, Daemon coldly said "Leave us" before lifting his arm in order to create a path for them to exit, which they quickly did.

Despite the taunting, TK remained silent, concentrating only on his breathing. Daemon had been ruthless to him, trying to cause him as much pain as possible. In addition to Daemon actions, the 'Scubamon' began to attack him physically when Daemon had decided to rest and observe. With two of the dark creatures holding him down, the third began to hit him with his arms until he felt too weak to stay in an upright position, despite the support of the other two creatures. Continuing their assault, the three creatures took turns kicking him while he was on the ground, eventually causing a severe pain to form in his ribs. Daemon eventually began torturing TK himself again, and this time TK was unable to put up any form of resistance as he had before.

"Are you ready to help me?" Daemon asked, clearly amused by TK's suffering. Clutching his injured ribs with his left arm, TK began to crawl towards the farthest corner, trying to get away from Daemon, though he knew this was futile. "Why?" he asked as TK reached the corner. "Why go through all of this for others? They've abandoned you here; they're letting me do this to you".

"Because," TK panted "I'll never let you hurt the people I care about. And don't worry about my friends, they're on their way to get me" he finished with as much confidence as he could muster.

"You'd really go through all this just to protect those you love?" Daemon asked in a tone TK thought sounded too suspicious, yet with a hint of surprise. "It is just as you did for the girl; you knowingly throw yourself in harm's way merely to ensure her safety…interesting".

"I wouldn't expect something like you to understand" TK told him after a few errant breaths. Daemon laughed in response, and turned around in order to leave TK's cell. As the bars once again opened to give him a passage, Daemon turned his head to look at TK and said "You pretend to be strong by protecting those close to you, but it is that very reason why you are weak".

"Good everyone is here" Izzy said as he entered the living room. "I don't know how much time we have, but I'm willing to bet it's minimal at this point. Our main priority is getting TK back, and I think the only logical place to look for him at is the Dark Ocean. The Sovereigns and Gennai both said that Daemon had opened a portal from there to enter our world" he explained.

"But that doesn't make sense" Kari quietly told the group. "The last time I was there, those dark creatures were being controlled by some undersea master. But when he fought him, they were following Daemon. And now his powers are connected to that world. How is that possible?"

"That's easy; he must've defeated whoever the original master was" Ken said, drawing everyone's attention. "It's the only logical explanation; he killed the leader and as a result took over his powers and controls what was originally his. That would also explain why those dark creatures were following him back into the portal when we fought him the first time. And we already know that Daemon was able to open portals between our world and the Digital World. If he's able to draw energy from the Dark Ocean, he could easily create a link from there to here".

"Okay, but how does that help us?" Davis asked impatiently. "It doesn't matter who's in control, we just need to find a way to get there. Ken, you opened a portal to there before. Do you think you'd be able to open a portal again? And would we able to get back the same way?"

"I'm not sure Davis" Ken responded hesitantly. "Ever since I lost the Dark Spore, I've felt like my connection with that world has faded over the years, which before now was a relief to me. I'm not sure I can anymore".

"Besides it's too dangerous" Yolie suddenly said firmly. "The last time we opened a portal to the Dark Ocean Ken almost fainted. If it's going to be harder now than it was then, than it might kill him. We can't take that risk".

The group sat in complete silence, unsure of what to say. Each of them knew that what Yolie had said was true, but admitting it out loud meant that they were no closer to getting TK back. "Maybe there's another way" Izzy said out loud. "I'll get a hold of Gennai and see if he knows anything. With any luck we'll-"

"We don't have time for luck" Ken suddenly said, a determined look on his face. "I'll do it. I'll find a way to get the gate open. If I use the Digi-port on the computer maybe it will be easier. Can you help me with that Izzy?" Nodding his head, Ken and Izzy rose and began to head into Izzy's room before Ken felt Tai grab his arm.

"Ken, are you sure about this? We all want to find TK, but we still need you. None of us are any good dead" Tai asked. "You don't have to do this".

"Tai's right Ken" Yolie said, moving so that she could be at Ken's side. "It's not fair for you to do this just because we have no other way. We can find another way to do this. It doesn't have to be you".

"No Yolie, you're wrong. It does have to be me" Ken responded firmly, yet still gentle.

"Why Ken? Why you?"

"Because, I'm the only one that can. And…" he said, looking around the room at all of his friends. "Look, before I met all of you I had nothing to live for. No friends and basically no family. All of you changed that for me. You guys are everything to me, everything I have. Everyone here is my family. And I'm not going to lose any of you. I'm not going to let that happen. I'm going to do everything I can to get TK back; I don't care what it takes".

Yolie sighed and looked at the ground, knowing there was no way to convince her boyfriend to change her mind. "Alright, we better get to work then" she said quietly as she began to make her way into Izzy's room. "Yolie wait, you don't have to be there" Ken began, but immediately fell silent as Yolie turned around and gave him a glare.

"If you think I'm going to sit out here while you try to get yourself killed then you're wrong. You're special to me Ken, and I'm going to do everything I can to keep you safe. And if you think that TK is more family to you then to me, or any of us for that matter, then you're dead wrong" she said, turning back around to head back into Izzy's room. "And if you think that you're better with a computer than me then you're clearly not the genius we thought you were!"

"What's taking them so long?" Kari asked nervously as she paced around the room. "They've been in there for over an hour. It didn't take this long last time Ken opened the portal".

"Maybe Ken progressively started to lose his ability to open a portal there after he lost the Dark Spore. He did say he couldn't feel a connection with the Dark Ocean anymore" Cody began to say from his spot on the couch, Armadillomon in his arms. "And it's been years since then; it would make sense that it would be difficult for him to do. At this point, he might not even be able to open the portal". Standing up, Cody walked over to where Kari had momentarily stopped moving and placed an arm on her shoulder "Kari, TK wouldn't want you worried about him. Besides, you need to sit down and rest; we're going to need everyone at full strength if we're going to get him back".

"That's easy for you to say Cody" Kari said, turning away from the younger boy. "This is all my fault Cody. The only reason Daemon even has TK is because of me…If it wasn't for the fact that he was choking me, TK would've never given himself up; he wouldn't be in this situation. And now we don't know if we can ever get him back".

"You can't believe that Kari" Tai quietly said as he leaned on a nearby wall. "TK would've done that for anyone, even if it was someone he didn't know. Just because it was you doesn't mean you're to blame for this".

"Then why do I feel so guilty? Why does it hurt so bad?" Kari asked as she began to cry.

"Because you care Kari; we all do. And that's why we're going to bring him back" he answered as we walked to her and gave her a hug. "I promise we won't rest until he's safe". Returning the hug, Kari took a deep breath and began to get a hold of her emotions. "I know we will Tai. It's just…I don't want to just sit here while Daemon's doing God knows what to TK. I just wish-"

"A PORTAL"S OPENING!" Izzy yelled as he ran into the living room followed closely by Ken and Yolie. "C'mon guys, we have to hurry!" he continued to yell as he and the others grabbed for their coats and began to run towards the door.

"Wait, what are you doing? Wouldn't the portal be in your room?" Matt asked in a confused tone. "Why would you three open a portal outside of your apartment?"

"It's opening from the other side" Ken said as he caught his breath. "Something is coming to our world, and the portal is opening just outside the building. There's only one thing that we know of that can open a portal from the Dark Ocean to our world".

"Daemon" Davis said darkly. "I wanted a little payback" he said as he began to step towards the door.

"Hold on Davis" Tai ordered before the young brunette could get very far. "He already has TK, what else would he want?" A few moments passed as the children looked at each other, hoping someone would have an answer to Tai's question. "Either this is a trap, or he isn't here to fight" Tai finally said as the room remained silent. "I want us to split up into two teams. Me, Matt, Kari, and Izzy will confront him directly. The rest of you stay hidden nearby. No one digivolves unless Agumon does or he attacks. Maybe we can figure out what he's planning on doing".

"Tai, you can't be serious" Davis said in disbelief. "We're talking about Daemon, probably the baddest dude we've ever fought. There's no way he's here to just talk. We need to hit him with everything we've got as soon as he comes out of the portal".

"Don't be such a hot-head Davis, you'll get us all killed" Tai said as he too grabbed his coat. "He has what he came for; he doesn't have a reason to come back, at least not so soon. Now let's hurry up, he'll be here any minute".

"He's getting stronger" Tai observed as the portal fully formed, allowing a dark figure to appear.

"Yeah, that portal opened in fifteen minutes; that's nearly a quarter of the time it took last time" Izzy told Tai. "I really hope you're right about him not wanting to pick a fight with us. If he is, we'd better be ready to digivolve. And I'm not entirely sure all of us will be able to stop him".

"I'm with you there buddy" Tai said as he continued to stare at the portal. Taking a quick glance to his left, Tai saw a small movement in the bushes nearby and said "They better stay still. The only thing that we have going for us right now is that Davis and the others have the element of surprise". Turning his attention back to the portal, he watched as Daemon's figure began to fully form and found himself holding his breath as the red-robed Digimon exited the portal and began to take a few steps towards them. "How thoughtful, a welcoming committee. What, no large Digimon this time? And tell me, where are the others?" Daemon asked in an amused tone, just as Tai began to breathe again.

Kari watched with anger as Daemon taunted them, and looked at Tai to see what he was planning to do, though his face and body language gave nothing away. Tai simply stared back at Daemon, clearly doing his best not to be intimidated. However, Kari found that she could not keep her composure as well as her older brother. "Where's TK?" she yelled at Daemon, stepping forward as she did so. Just as she passed her brother, she felt him grab her arm to prevent her from getting any closer to the demon Digimon. "Stay cool Kari" he whispered to her as he pulled her back. "What are you doing here Daemon?" he said loud enough for the Digimon to hear after Kari was safely behind him "What do you want?"

"Her" he said, raising an arm so that he could point at Kari. " It seems that some unforeseen circumstances have made her a necessity to my plans" Daemon finished, his tone turning serious. "And this time I won't restrain myself. I am too close to let you children be a hindrance any longer".

"Not happening" Tai told Daemon bluntly. "What makes you think we'd let you take anyone else, let alone my sister?"

"Because that is the only way you will ever see the boy again" Daemon answered as he began to move closer to the children, though the children stood their ground. "And if I don't get her, I will end all of you and take the Child of Light. And then her and the boy will meet the same fate".

"Tai?" Kari whispered to her older brother, momentarily breaking his glare towards Daemon. "Tai, let me go with him. This might be our only chance at getting to TK" she said, anger becoming increasingly apparent in his face. "Are you crazy?" he asked. "I'm not going to lose you. Not to him, not to anyone".

"But Tai, we don't have any other way to get to TK. Look, I know it's risky, but I know I can get both of us out. You have to trust me Tai" Kari pleaded.

"My patience is growing thin" Daemon said, once again getting Tai's attention. "I want her, and only her. None of you are allowed to come with us".

"Kari, you can't do this if I'm not going with you" Gatomon said, jumping onto Kari's shoulder. Similar to Tai, the white, cat-like Digimon was staring suspiciously at Daemon, ready to attack him at any moment. "You can't be really thinking about doing this. He's going to kill you as soon as he's done using you".

"That's a risk I'm willing to take" Kari said as she lifted Gatomon off her shoulder. "He would do it for me Gatomon; I can't live with myself knowing that I wouldn't do this for him". Placing her down on the ground, Kari began to once again walk towards Daemon before feeling Tai's hand once again stop her. "Stop it Tai" she told him, not bothering to look back at him, knowing that if she did then she might lose the courage to do what she was about to do. "You know I have to do this. Don't try to stop me".

Behind her, she heard him breathing heavily, as if he was trying to control his anger. "Kari…" he began, unsure of what he should do, but knowing that this might be the only chance any of them had at getting into the Dark Ocean.

"I'm sorry Tai" Kari whispered, bowing her head. "I know how hard this is for you, but TK made his choice, and now I'm making mine. Don't you understand? You were right. I would do anything to protect TK, just like he would for me…just like he did for me".

Still breathing heavily, Tai finally released his sister's wrist and said "I'm giving you until tomorrow morning. But I swear if you're not back by then I'm coming after you. I don't care who, or what, I have to go through".

"I know Tai" she whispered to him, turning around to look at him one more time. "I'll be back soon, I promise" she told him as she turned back around and walked the short distance to Daemon. "Alright, now what?"

Behind him, a portal once again began to open into the Dark Ocean, and Daemon stepped aside to allow Kari to enter. "Consider yourself lucky girl; I made him suffer before taking the Child of Hope to my realm".

Kari took a deep breath, doing her best to control her emotions as he spoke about hurting TK. "How do I know you didn't kill him?" she asked, inadvertently trying to postpone entering the dark world once again.

"I wouldn't be here if he was dead" was Daemon's only response. "Now go; it is time to achieve my destiny".

"Daemon!" Tai suddenly said from behind Kari and him, causing the latter to look back. "If you hurt her, I'm coming for you after you. And this time, I'll make sure to end this".

"I'll be looking forward to it" he said confidently, clearly unaffected by Tai's threat. Turning around once more, Kari and Daemon entered the portal, immediately closing as they fully entered, leaving the Digidestined alone.

**Thanks for reading and sorry about leaving you with another cliffhanger. Please leave a review to tell me what you think. See you next time.**


	16. Living Nightmare

**So it's been a little over three months since I last updated, so for any of you that may be angry, my bad. Unfortunately I've been really pressed for time. However, the first chance I got to work on this chapter I did, though I did find this pretty difficult to write. If you haven't noticed, this is probably the longest chapter thus far, so I hope it will be worth the wait (in my word document, it was 13 pages long). Please enjoy!**

**Disclaimer:**** I don't own Digimon**

A cold chill traveled up Kari's back as she felt the Daemon's portal close behind her, causing her to wrap her jacket around her tightly. As she did so, she realized the jacket belonged to TK; she had never taken it off. Finally taking notice of her surroundings, she silently screamed in her head as she looked at the last place she'd ever want to be again: the Dark Ocean. Though she found it difficult to admit to herself, she felt that this world had become darker and more barren than the last time she had been there, something she could only attribute to the work of Daemon. "Now what?" she asked Daemon, turning to look at the demonic entity.

"I see you are hesitant to continue" Daemon observed. "But you need not fear the creatures of this world any longer; they are completely under my control. After their master fell by my hand, they all knew not to test my power" he finished as he pushed Kari forward, making her walk deeper into her nightmares. "As for what you do now, all I will say is this: it seems the Child of Hope needs… persuasion. That is your sole purpose here girl".

"I'm not going to help you, Daemon" Kari said bluntly, not bothering to look back at her captor. "And you don't know TK if you think he'll ever do anything you tell him too".

"But that's where you're wrong girl" Daemon said, a confident sneer in his voice. "You see, I know him better than anyone, even you". As he said this, Kari stopped her march and turned around to face the evil Digimon. "And why would you think that?" Kari challenged.

"How do you plan on defying me girl? You're alone here; you don't have your friends with you or your partner. There is no reason for resiliency" Daemon said bluntly, looking Kari in the eye. "And worst of all, you have no hope…because I've taken him away from you". At this, Kari nervously looked away from Daemon, unsure of how to respond to his gloating since she knew that he was right.

"Yes, I know all about you two" he continued as Kari didn't respond. "I know that despite my clear superiority over his Digimon, he would recklessly throw himself in harm's way just to protect you. And I know that the only time he's ever surrendered was to keep you alive. You say that I don't know anything about the boy, but I know for a fact what his undoing is; I know what will break him. You claim that I know nothing about him, but we both know that is untrue. It is you who knows nothing about the Child of Hope. If you did, you would've stayed as far away from him as possible".

Tai pounded his fist on a nearby table, letting his frustration show. "What's taking them so long?" he demanded, referring to Izzy, Ken, and Yolie. "They've been in Izzy's room for at least thirty minutes; they have to have something by now!"

"Tai, cool it. You're not helping anything" Joe said calmly. "We both know they're doing everything they can in there. We just need to be patient".

Breaking his glaze from Izzy's bedroom door, Tai turned around in preparation to respond to Joe's comments before Matt stopped him by grabbing his arm. "C'mon dude, keep it together. You know Izzy's going to figure something out. Besides, Daemon didn't seem like he was in the mood to hurt anyone, so Kari's going to be fine. I know it's hard, but we have to try and stay positive".

Yanking his arm out of Matt's grip, Tai went and took a seat on the couch, knowing that of all the people present, only Matt could understand what he was going through. _If he can find a way to stay calm, then I have to do the same. He has no idea what happened to TK; at least I know that Kari's ok _he thought to himself. Hiding his face with his hands, he suddenly felt an arm wrap around his shoulders in moral support, and immediately knew it was Sora. "I see your maternal instincts are kicking in" he muttered quietly, making the girl smile.

"There's the Tai we know and love" Sora said with evident sarcasm. "Listen to me Tai, we don't need you losing your head. Everyone is looking to you for strength. I know it's unfair to ask you to do that now, but we'll all start becoming negative if you don't. Think positive, ok? Everything's going to work out".

"I'll try" he whispered in response without moving. "You should keep talking with Matt" Tai began. "I know he's handling this better than me, but this has to be harder for him than for me… Go, I'll be alright". Tai felt Sora squeeze him into a tighter hug before releasing him and patting him on the back. "Get me if you need anything" she told him before going over and sitting by Matt, who had taken a seat on the floor after Tai had walked away.

"How's he holding up?" Matt asked his girlfriend as he watched her take a seat beside him.

"You really can't ask him to take it much better. He and Kari were close; probably closer than any two siblings I've ever seen" she responded, looking at their mutual friend. "But despite all of that, he still seems to be worried about you…"

Matt gave a small smile as Sora told him this, a sight that she was pleasantly surprised to see. "I guess that's just what friends are for" he said, turning his face towards Sora. "You know, one of the last things I told TK was that he and Kari were the reason I thought I might be able to last in a relationship" he said, looking like he was deep in his thoughts. "I mean…, I just never thought that he would change so much…that he would change me so much".

"You've changed him too, Matt" Sora told him softly. "You've affected his life just as much as he's affected yours. And both of you are going to do more of the same" she said as she began rubbing his back.

Nodding his head, Matt once again turned his head towards Tai and said "I know this sounds bad, but I'm glad that it's Kari going into the Dark Ocean. Even though I hate to admit it, I think she might have the best chance at rescuing TK, even me".

"What do you mean?" Sora asked, hoping Matt was only saying this out of depression.

"I don't really know how to explain it Sora" Matt admitted after a moment. "It's like they aren't themselves if they know something is wrong with the other. And because of that, they have to do whatever they can to protect each other…"

TK groggily awoke, immediately feeling a sharp pain in the left side of his midsection. Grasping what he assumed was an injured rib, TK managed to lift himself off of the cold, concrete floor and struggled to sit up against a nearby wall. Panting heavily, TK slowly lifted his shirt up to try and inspect his wound, revealing a large purple bruise on the left side of his stomach. Extending his hand, TK touched the bruise, only to gasp in pain upon contact. "Where's Joe when you need him" TK muttered sarcastically as he lowered his shirt, attempting to boost his morale. Looking around, he discovered that he was in the same cell as he had been in before, realizing that there was no way for him to tell how long he had been in there. Leaning his head back against the wall, TK began to think of someway that he might be able to get out of this current predicament.

Eventually, his mind drifted to the last conversation he had had with Daemon. When they had last spoken, Daemon had made it clear that he knew how to force TK to do whatever he pleased. Initially, he was confident that there wasn't anything Daemon could do to force TK to do anything, but as he continued to dwell on the subject, his confidence continued to fade. TK did his best to ease his mind, but found he couldn't get the doubt to leave his mind. As he continued to think on the matter, he suddenly heard heavy footsteps nearby, freeing him of his thoughts.

TK froze as he watched Daemon entered his cell, followed closely by two of the Scubamon. Mustering up all the strength he had left, he returned Daemon's cold glare and remained silent, staring at each other for what seemed like hours to TK. "How long do you think you can keep this up?" Daemon asked, breaking the intense silence.

"For as long as I'm here" TK responded, hoping that he sounded confident. "I'm not scared of you, or anything that you can do to me. So go ahead; try and do your worst. I have all the time in the world".

"But I don't" Daemon responded, motioning to the Scubamon as he did so. Moving toward TK, each of the creatures grabbed one of TK's arms, forcing him to stand. TK gave no resistance as this happened, knowing that he would have to save his strength for what was to come next. When he was pulled to his feet, Daemon turned and led TK out of his cell. As he was forced to walk, TK continuously felt a sharp pain from his side with each step he took. Despite this, he did his best to remain silent and not show any weakness. "What now?" TK panted as Daemon and the creatures came to a halt inside of a large room. Looking around, TK saw that the room was empty except for him and the three Digimon. The walls and the ground were covered with a thin coat of dust, but he could tell that they were made of concrete. In addition to this, there were only two doors leading into the room; one of which he just entered through.

"My offer still stands Child of Hope. Assist me willingly or face the consequences; you won't enjoy it if I force you to." Daemon said coldly, motioning for the Scubamon to release him. TK immediately fell to the floor, landing on his uninjured side, and clutched his injured ribs. After taking a moment to breath, he rose to his hands and knees so that he could make eye contact with Daemon. "I've told you already, there isn't anything you can do to me to change my mind".

"No, you don't want there to be anything I can do" he said as he pointed at the other door in the room. "You will soon find out that this is not the case". As he finished speaking, the door he pointed at opened, and another Scubamon entered the room, pulling someone with them by their arm. "Kari?" TK questioned, disbelief evident in his tone. The young brunette was still wearing TK's jacket from earlier that day, and her hands were tied behind her back with rope. "TK!" she exclaimed upon seeing the blonde. Kari tried to make her way towards him, but was held firmly in place by the Scubamon attending to her. "Let me go!" she said, doing her best to break free from the creature's grip, though she could not break free from the creatures grip with her hands bound.

Similar to Kari, though with a little more flair, TK began to run towards the brunette before being stopped by the two Scubamon next to him. "KARI!? LET HER GO! SHE'S NOT A PART OF THIS!" he yelled, continuing to put up a fight despite his injured state. Mustering up one more burst of strength, TK was able to break free from the creatures, and immediately began to stumble towards Kari, unable to bring himself into a running position. However, just before he was about to reach the struggling brunette, he suddenly felt a claw come in contact with his ribs, making fall to the ground. "I see that you still have much more fight left in you" Daemon sneered as he flipped TK onto his back by kicking him. Once he was on his back, Daemon slammed his foot into TK's injured rib, causing him to groan loudly in pain.

"Stop it! You're hurting him!" Kari exclaimed as she saw her friend begin wither in pain. "You're going to kill him!"

"It will happen soon enough" he told Kari, putting more pressure on TK's injury before finally removing his foot, relieving both her and TK. After several moments of catching his breath, TK slowly rolled to his stomach and began to drag himself towards Kari, panting heavily as he did so. Before he could get very far though, Daemon ordered the Scubamon to grab a hold of TK again, holding him in place so that he could look directly at Kari. Daemon grabbed TK's chin, forcing the blonde to look at him before saying "Tell me, did you really think that I wouldn't realize your weakness? Did you really think that I wouldn't come after her so that I could break you?"

"You don't have to do this" TK said weakly. "She isn't a part of this, you said it yourself. So just let her go".

"Do as I please and nothing will happen to her. If you refuse again…" he paused and placed his claw on TK's head, as if in preparation to torture him again, but nothing happened. "Do you really want to put her through that?" he asked quietly, clearly implying his willingness to hurt Kari.

"TK! Don't listen to him" Kari called out to her friend after hearing Daemon speak. "Whatever he's planning to do will hurt everyone. You can't help him. I'll be fine, I promise" she told him, trying to encourage the blonde anyway she could.

TK felt himself begin to panic as he heard his best friend's words. He knew that whatever Daemon wanted him to do would result in chaos for both worlds, but he knew he couldn't bear to watch Kari get hurt because of him. "This is my last offer boy, or her screams will haunt your conscious… Now, give me your answer" Daemon demanded, interrupting his thoughts.

"I…I…" TK began to say, continuing to debate with himself.

"His answer is no" Kari suddenly said, drawing Daemon's glaze towards her. "Tell him TK. We're meant to fight Digimon like him, not to help him. You know that you can't do this TK, so just tell him" she told the blonde, doing her best to ease his decision as she continued to struggle.

"Kari…I don't know if-"

"No TK, you're not going to help him" Kari told him, cutting him off. "Listen to me; he'll hurt everyone we care about if he gets what he wants. I'll be fine, ok?" she continued to plead, unsure of what TK would do.

"Daemon…" TK whispered after a few more moments of silence. With his eyes closed, TK bowed his head and said "I'm not going to do it Daemon. I'm not going to help you" he said quietly, speaking only loud enough for Daemon and Kari to hear him.

"Wrong answer" Daemon said coldly as he began to walk towards Kari. Seeing him approach her, Kari did her best to create more distance from Daemon, but the Scubamon beside her held on tightly to her arm, allowing her only to squirm.

"Stop it!" TK told Daemon as he struggled to rise to his feet. "Leave her alone. You don't have to do this!" For TK, time seemed to slow down, and each second caused him increasing anxiety and fear as Daemon stepped closer and closer to Kari. He watched as the brunette's face began to show more and more fear, causing him to increase his efforts. Finally, Daemon stopped when he was less that an arm's length away from the brunette and turned to look at TK. "This is your doing" Daemon said coldly.

Extending his arm towards Kari, Daemon let it hover just above Kari's head. She continued to struggle with the Scubamon beside her, but her eyes were locked onto Daemon's hand, worry etched onto her face. Then, without warning, Daemon let his hand fall onto Kari, and quickly did the same with his other hand. Upon contact, Kari's body stiffened as she began to experience the same pain that TK had been put through. Initially, she did her best to suppress any signs of pain, knowing that if she began to, it would do nothing but hurt TK.

"Kari!" TK exclaimed as he saw the young brunette's legs go limp. Beside her, the Scubamon released his grip on her arm, and she began to slump to the floor, able only to stay upright because of Daemon holding onto he head though she was able to keep her feet under her. Although she wasn't making any noise, TK knew she was in agonizing pain not only because of her facial expressions, but also from his own experience. "KARI, NO! STOP IT!" he began to yell, knowing that his attempts were futile. Not willing to give up though, TK did his best to jerk away from his captors, fueled by a new found strength.

"TK…I'm…ok…" Kari managed to say weakly, doing her best to erase the look of pain on her face. However, moments after she said this, she let out a small groan, making TK momentarily freeze and look at his friend with a look of sadness as he noticed her body begin to shake. Kari felt her strength quickly fading, prompting her to try and twist her head in a way to break free of Daemon's grip. She continued to try this after her first attempt failed, each attempt becoming weaker and weaker than the last. "T…T…" she began call out to the blonde again, but stopped as another long groan escaped from her mouth, eventually turning into a quiet scream.

"KARI! ... DAEMON I"LL DO IT!" he yelled in desperation, but quickly realized that Daemon was doing nothing to end her torment. "DAEMON! STOP IT! I SAID I"D HELP YOU!" As TK continued to watch Kari to wither and moan in pain, he continued to struggle with the Scubamon on both sides of him. After what seemed an eternity of watching Daemon hurt Kari, TK finally managed to break free from the Scubamon's grip, falling to the floor with a hard thud. Before the creatures had a chance to react, he lunged towards Daemon, and grasped his foot. "Listen to me! I'll do it! I'll help you, just stop hurting her!" he frantically said, slamming his fist into Daemon's robe, though it was apparent that this didn't affect him at all.

Daemon finally seemed to notice that TK was speaking to him, and after hearing what he was saying, violently threw Kari to the ground. Seeing this, TK quickly crawled over to Kari and turned her over on her back so that he could look at her. "Kari?" he asked, his tone filled with worry.

"TK…I'm sorry…I didn't know he'd-" she began to say, but was cut off as Daemon came behind TK and threw him away from her before turning his attention back to the Scubamon.

"Take the girl to the cell" he ordered to the Scubamon while he removed the rope binding her hands together. "Leave him though, I'm not through with him yet" he said, referring to TK.

"TK…" Kari said weakly as the Scubamon began to drag her out of the room. TK watched as the creatures dragged her limp body out of the room, and it was clear that he was still in shock by what had just transpired. "I told you that you would not like the consequences of disobeying me" Daemon told TK, drawing his attention.

"Now what?" he asked bitterly after a moment. "What are you going to make me do?"

Giving a small laugh, Daemon approached TK with an open hand, revealing a small green and white device, causing him to release a small gasp. It was his Digivice. "You'll see tomorrow boy" Daemon said as he hid the device once more by enclosing his fist. "But you seem to have ruined my fun. I wasn't thorough with the girl yet". As he finished, Daemon reached out and grabbed TK's head with both hands, just as he had done numerous times before. TK chose not to resist, knowing that he was too weak from what had transpired only moments ago.

"You'll be sufficient in her place".

Kari sat in her cell, mentally beating herself for not realizing what Daemon had planned to do with her. Now that she had time to reflect, it astounded her that she would be so blind to such an obvious thing. The only reason he had wanted her was to get to TK. After everything that had happened in the past week, it would only be logical to think Daemon had realized TK would go to great lengths to protect Kari. He would put her safety before the fate of the world.

Kari guessed that she had been in her cell for nearly thirty minutes now, and all she could think about was TK. Up to that point, Daemon had had a reason to keep TK alive; now that TK had agreed to do what Daemon wanted, he had no reason to let TK live. But Kari couldn't help but think what would happen if Daemon didn't kill TK. She didn't have a doubt in her mind that whatever Daemon was planning would result in chaos for both the Digital World and the real world, and the affect that would have on TK if Daemon let him live. If that were to happen, she knew TK would be filled with guilt, and she didn't know if he would be able to recover from it.

Her thoughts were finally interrupted as she heard the bars to her cell bend. Looking up, she watched as Daemon entered, followed closely by two of the dark creatures dragging a limp body. "TK?" she asked hesitantly as she recognized he boy's hair. "Did you…?"

"He's still alive" Daemon told her as the Scubamon dropped him in the middle of the cell. Wanting to get TK away from the evil Digimon, Kari quickly went over to TK and dragged him towards the opposite wall, causing Daemon to laugh in amusement. "I'm done with him for today. But I'd advise you to make sure he plans on doing what I say tomorrow. If not, we'll just have a repeat of today". With that, Daemon turned around and walked out of the cell, the two dark creatures following closely behind him. Kari immediately turned her attention to TK after the bars had closed. Rolling him onto his back and placing his head in her lap, she began to gently shake him, hoping to see if he was alright. "TK…? TK, can you hear me?"

TK let out a quiet moan as he began regain consciousness. Slowly, he opened his eyes, revealing Kari's worried face. "Kari?" he asked, unsure if he was just imagining the brunette. Lifting his right hand, he reached out to touch her face, and smiled when he felt Kari's cheek, realizing she was actually in front of him. "Are you ok?" he asked softly.

"I think I'm the one that should be asking you that" she responded with a soft smile of her own, cupping her hand over TK's. "TK…I'm so sorry that I put you through that. It's just…after Daemon took you, I thought I might never see you again. Then he came for me. He…he-"

"I know Kari" he said, not wanting to make her relive what had happened. "You don't need to apologize, Kari; I understand".

Kari nodded, squeezing TK's hand. After a moment of silence, Kari asked "So did you…did you do it?" she asked, scared to hear the answer.

"No…he's going to do it tomorrow" TK said. "I don't know what he wants from me though, Kari. And he has my Digivice".

"You don't have to do this TK" she told the blonde. "I'll be fine, ok? You don't need to do this to protect me. And I'm not worth it".

"You are to Tai" TK began, looking Kari in the eyes. "And to your parents, and to Gatomon…and to me… Maybe it's selfish of me, and maybe I'm being stupid…but I can't live with myself knowing that I hurt you Kari. You mean too much to me".

"You mean a lot to me too TK" she whispered to her friend, knowing that he had already made up his mind. Sitting in silence, she found herself oddly content with the intimate moment with TK, despite everything that had just transpired "TK, go to sleep, ok? After everything that's happened, you need your rest… I'll stay up and keep an eye on you".

"I'm not going to let you waste your time watching me Kari" he answered weakly, already beginning to doze off. "If I'm going to rest then you need to too".

"You're so stubborn" she said with a soft smile, touched by the fact that TK was still putting her before himself. Leaning her head against the wall, Kari closed her eyes and did her best to get comfortable without disturbing TK. "You know," she began "I could just pretend to sleep until you actually are" Kari told him with a joking tone.

"Are you implying that you can hold out longer than me?" he answered with a similar tone, though his eyes were beginning to close as well. "Last time I checked, all of your all-nighter attempts were epic failures".

"You're record isn't much better" she responded quietly, still smiling. After a few moments, she heard TK begin to take steady breaths, signaling to her that he had finally gone to sleep. Opening her eyes, she looked down at her blonde friend and smiled as she saw a look of peace on his face, easily the last thing she expected to see. As gently as she could, Kari managed to remove TK's jacket off of her and placed it on the blonde like a blanket. After running a hand through TK's golden hair, Kari slowly leaned over to TK's ear and whispered "Thank you TK" before moving to his cheek and giving him a light kiss. Hovering over his face for a few more seconds, she once again leaned her head against the wall and found a way to fell asleep.

TK awoke as he was thrown off of Kari's lap, painfully landing on his injured side. "Get up" he hear, recognizing Daemon's voice even though his eyes were still closed. TK did his best rise, but found that the pain was too much for him to handle and remained on the ground, rolling into a ball to protect himself. With his eyes still closed, TK began to breathe slowly as he heard the footsteps of the Scubamon enter the cell.

"TK?" Kari groggily asked as she slowly began to wake up due to all the noise. Kari looked confused for a moment, but quickly realized what was happening and immediately tried to run towards TK, only to be stopped by two of the dark creatures grabbing her arm. "Let me go!" she told her captors, continuing to struggle so that she could get to TK. "He's still too weak Daemon; you have to let him rest longer!" she frantically said, knowing that Daemon intended to force TK to do his bidding.

"I don't think he's too weak…he just needs some incentive" Daemon said as he walked towards TK. As she saw him do this, Kari increased her efforts to get to TK and could only watch in fear as Daemon knelt and grabbed TK by his hair, forcing the blonde to look directly at Kari. "Get to your feet or you will hear her scream…and this time I won't stop". Releasing his grip, TK dropped slightly, but he managed to keep his head from hitting the ground. Taking a deep breath, TK mustered all of his strength and began crawling to the closest wall. Extended a hand towards the wall, TK slowly rose until he was standing upright, placing a majority of his weight on the wall.

"Let me help him" Kari said as she watched the blonde struggle. Daemon turned his head towards Kari, surprised at the calmness in her voice. "He's not going to be able to walk anywhere on his own…We're not going anywhere with his ribs being injured, and they'll be watching us the whole time" she continued, referring to the dark creatures. Daemon watched Kari for a moment before motioning for her to be released. Taking one last look at Daemon, Kari walked to TK and gave him a small smile, hoping that in some way it would make him feel better. "You're going to be ok; I'm going to get you out of here". Not waiting for a response, Kari took TK's arm and wrapped it over her shoulder, allowing him to lean most of his weight on her. Additionally, Kari wrapped both of her arms around his waist, making sure that he didn't lose his balance.

"Follow me. The two of you stay behind them and make sure they don't try anything" Daemon ordered, leading the small group out of the cell. As they walked, TK did his best to contain his grunts of discomfort as he covered his injured ribs with his free arm. Though it seemed much longer to TK, they walked for only a few minutes before reaching their destination. As he looked around, he realized that they were in the same room that Daemon had brought him to the day before. Upon further inspection, he noticed that in the middle of the room was a pedestal that had not previously been there. It stood about five feet tall, and on the top of it rested a dark, transparent sphere which held a small, green device in it. "Is…is that your digivice?" Kari asked quietly, noticing the sphere as well. "What is he planning on doing with it?"

TK only stared at the device, not knowing how to answer Kari's question. "What happens when you're done with me Daemon? Are you going to kill us?" TK asked the demon-digimon, doing his best to remain calm.

"No, that would be too easy" Daemon said as he took a position behind the pedestal. "I want to make you suffer; both of you. When I am done getting what I want, I'm going to let you go. I'm going to let you see the destruction of both worlds I want you to know that it was the two of you that allowed it to happen. And I want both of you to watch helplessly as I destroy everything around you…And then I will end you" Daemon finished, causing TK and Kari to flinch. "Now, come here boy".

TK felt Kari hold onto him tightly, not letting him go forward as he began to move forward. Turning his attention to the brunette, he gave a small nod and said "It'll be fine" he told her, taking her hand and holding it tightly as she began to loosen her grip. As he walked away from her, she let her hand linger until he was too far away to do so, giving him a concerned look the whole time.

Reaching the dark sphere TK stopped and stared directly at Daemon. "Tell me, what are your greatest fears?" Daemon asked, though TK refused to respond to him. "You don't have to tell me, just think about them. Think about despair; think about how hopeless your life is. And when you feel you no longer have hope, when you are filled with despair, touch the sphere".

TK continued to stare at Daemon coldly, knowing that whatever he was about to do would end badly for everyone. Sighing, TK closed his eyes and thought about everything closest to him: his friends, family…and Kari. His thoughts slowly drifted to the day before as he watched Kari put through pain because of his decision, and realized that the only other time he had felt so hopeless was when Angemon had sacrificed himself to defeat Devimon. With the memory of that feeling in his mind, TK reached forward with both hands and grasped the sphere.

Immediately TK felt the sphere feeding off of his negative thoughts, causing him to lose his strength and collapse to his knees. "Don't let go of that sphere boy" Daemon warned as TK struggled to remain conscious, forcing himself to only remain focused on holding onto the dark sphere. Knowing that Kari's well-being could be at risk, TK forced himself off of the ground, never allowing himself to lose contact. As this continued, the sphere began to give off a humming sound that continued to increase in volume until everyone but TK and Daemon were left covering their ears. "I can't…" TK began to say, knowing that the sphere was weakening him too much. Falling to one knee, TK began to grind his teeth, doing anything he could to remain as he was.

Just as TK felt he was about to pass out, he felt a jolt of energy travel through him, propelling him away from the sphere and towards Kari. As he landed with a hard _thump_, Kari quickly ran to his side and pulled him further away from the sphere. "TK? Can you hear me?" she asked frantically, worried as the blonde gave no response. Clearly seeing that the sphere had greatly weakened him, she turned back towards Daemon and yelled "What did you make him do?"

"This" he responded simply as he walked towards the sphere. "After all this time, I finally have it" he said as he reached towards the sphere, seeming to be infatuated with it. Kari held her breath as she watched Daemon reach for the sphere, and when he touched it, a wave of dark energy shot out from the sphere, knocking the children and the dark creatures to the ground. Kari took a moment to recover, immediately checking to see if TK was ok. After ensuring the blonde was still breathing, she turned her attention back to Daemon and gasped as she saw the evil Digimon surrounded by a dark sphere, a sight that seemed oddly familiar to her. "He's…he's digivolving" she slowly realized.

"Daemon mode change to…Shadow Mode!" As the sphere surrounding him disappeared, Kari gasped as his new form appeared. This new form was bigger than his previous one, and his robes were a dark purple that could've easily been mistaken as black. The horns, which were black, on his head had also grown much longer and formed a large spiral, much like a ram. His face was still concealed by his dark robes, but Kari could still see that his eyes had turned into a dark shade of green while his claws had become a dark red that reminded her of blood. On Daemon's back was a set of black wings that was lined with a darker shade of red than his claws. But what caught Kari's attention the most was the medallion that Daemon now wore around his neck. The medallion had become an ebony color, and the symbol resembled the Crest of Hope; the base of the crest had become a claw that looked to be grasping the sphere, and the beams of light on the crest had disappeared. As she noticed all of Daemon's new attributes, she felt herself begin to fill with fear as she realized she was staring at the same Digimon she saw in her dream.

Daemon paused for a moment to overlook himself after he had finished digivolving. Kari could hear him quietly begin to laugh as he finished. "So…let's say we see what I am capable of now" Daemon said as he began to walk towards TK and Kari. When he was only a few steps away from TK and Kari, Daemon stopped and raised his right arm, pointing it at the two teenagers.

Though she knew it was futile, Kari positioned herself in order to separate TK and Daemon before saying "I thought you said you were going to let us live" she managed to say. "You said you would let us go after TK did what you wanted".

"True," he said after a moment "and there isn't anything you can do to stop me now. But…it is only fair you see what you helped to create". Still staring at TK and Kari, Daemon rotated his arm so that it was now pointed at the dark creatures before saying "Evil Inferno!" A huge flame erupted from Daemon's hand and struck the surprised creatures instantly. Before Kari even had a chance to blink, the Scubamon had been destroyed.

"You…why?" she stammered, disgusted that he would so easily destroy his own minions, despite everything they had done to her and TK.

"They were nothing more than tools to me" he said, lowering his arm. "I will hunt all of those pathetic creatures and destroy them all. There last service to me will be target practice".

"How can you do that? How can you justify that?" Kari demanded, feeling her sympathy begin to increase.

"Because I can" Daemon answered, only convincing Kari that he was the most heartless Digimon she had met. "As for the two of you" he told her as he raised his arm once more, though he was pointing away from them now, causing a portal to open behind him. "I will let you return to your world now" Walking to Kari, he roughly grabbed the brunette by her shirt and began to drag her towards the portal.

"Let me go!" she struggled as the Digimon held onto her tightly. "TK! What are you going to do with him?" she asked as she continued to squirm. She watched as her blonde friend began to drag himself towards her, grunting in pain with each movement, determination etched on his face. Finally, Daemon reached the portal with Kari still securely in his grasp. Bringing her to his eye level, Kari's voice once again filled with fear as she asked "Let him go…please… You can't kill him". Daemon gave a small laugh as he heard Kari beg for TK's life, and threw her through the portal without a response.

As soon as the brunette had disappeared, Daemon turned his attention back to TK, who had ceased his efforts to reach Daemon after he had gotten rid of Kari. "Did you really send her back?" he asked through a rasped voice.

"I'd be more worried about what I'm planning to do with you" he told the blonde as he walked toward TK and picked him up in the same way he had picked up Kari. "But you are clearly too incompetent to realize that". TK refused to respond to Daemon's statement, giving the evil Digimon only a cold stare. Laughing at his lack of response, Daemon said "Yes, I returned her to the same location in which I took her. And you…I was told it would be best to kill you after I digivolved, but I don't see what you could possibly do to stop my plans. So I will let you return as well. But know that your time draws near". Reaching into his robes, Daemon pulled out TK's digivice and placed it into TK's hand. "This is useless to me now" referring to the small device. "I know you'll try to use it against me, but I am too powerful for anything to stop me now. So take it, use it to fail.

"Who told you to kill me?" TK asked as he was dragged to portal, ignoring Daemon's remarks about his digivice. "Who are you working with?" Daemon stopped in front of the portal and took another glance at TK before grasping his neck and holding him up, letting TK know that he wasn't going answer him. TK struggled to breathe as Daemon choked him, causing him to instinctually kick his feet.

"We're going to stop you" TK finally managed to say after Daemon had loosened his grip on TK.

"You'll try" was Daemon's only response as he threw the Child of Hope through the portal, allowing him to return Earth.

**For any of you wondering why it was TK that would make Daemon digivolve, I'll get into that next chapter. Also, I know I didn't discuss it in the chapter, but the dark sphere basically altered TK's ability to make a Digimon digivolve. On a brighter note, this story was officially a year old last month, which surprisingly made me very happy. I really do enjoy doing this and hearing all of your feedback, so I'll do my best not to let you wait this long again. I would love to hear your comments/feedback for this chapter, so please press the review button and tell me what you thought, and hopefully I'll have the next chapter out quickly. Thanks, I hope all of you enjoy your Thanksgiving and I'll see you next time.**


	17. The Return

**Only a month for this chapter! I would love if I could get a chapter out every month, but unfortunately that isn't always the case. Anyways, there isn't a whole lot that occurs this chapter, but I felt it needed to be in the story. Please enjoy and be sure to review after you finish. Thanks!**

**Disclaimer:**** I don't own Digimon**

Izzy sighed as he looked away from his computer and begin to scratch his head, clearly frustrated. His room was quiet due to the lack of people present; only he, Matt, Tai, and their Digimon were present. Gatomon and Patamon were also there, though they had managed to fall asleep. "Tai…I don't know what to tell you. I've tried everything I could think of and it's still not working. I can't get a portal to open".

Tai sat quietly after hearing Izzy, letting the words sink in before he responded. "And there's nothing else you can do?" he finally managed to ask.

"No…Look Tai, I'm not going to stop trying, but we have to find a different approach. But right now I think it'd be best if we all took a break. Everyone else has already gone home; the two of you should do the same" he finished, talking to Matt as well.

"Maybe he's right Tai," Matt began after neither boys responded to Izzy's suggestion. "I know we probably won't be able to get any sleep, but we're not doing anyone any good wearing ourselves out. They can handle themselves for now; we'll get back to work in the morning".

"Yeah…I guess we don't have much of a choice" Tai mumbled, knowing that Matt and Izzy were only being rational. "I'll call everyone tomorrow morning so we can meet again, maybe someone will come up with an idea between now and then. Izzy, could you-" Tai suddenly found himself cut off by a beeping sound originating from Izzy's computer.

As soon as he heard the noise, Izzy jumped to his laptop and began to frantically type onto his keyboard. Soon, it began to emit a bright light that blinded the children and their partners, also causing Gatomon and Patamon to wake up. "Izzy, what'd you do!?" Tai excitingly asked, clearly thinking that somehow Izzy had managed to find a way to open a portal through his computer.

"I didn't do anything" Izzy responded, covering his eyes. "My computer found a portal opening, which is why it went off. But that wasn't because of me; Daemon must've opened a portal and used my computer as the exit point".

Before Tai had a chance to respond, he noticed the figure of a girl begin to form. "Kari!" He exclaimed as the dark figure was fully transported through the portal, revealing the young brunette. Landing on her side with a small groan, she initially appeared to be unconscious. Immediately, Tai ran to his sister's side along with Gatomon to ensure her well-being. "Kari? Are you ok?" he asked as she began to stir.

"Tai? Gatomon?" she asked, seemingly confused by her their sudden appearance. "What…? Where…? TK! Tai, where's TK?" she suddenly said, all of the confusion vanishing from her voice. Rising to her feet, she quickly looked around before noticing that Izzy's computer was still showing the open portal. "Izzy, can this take me back?"

"Kari what are you talking about? You're not going back" he said firmly grasping her arm. "I just got you back and I'm not losing you again".

"Tai you don't understand, he still has TK; I think he's going to kill him" she said as she tried to violently yanked her arm to free herself from Tai's grip. "I have to get back there and bring him back".

"Then let me and Matt go" he said, finally managing to pull her away from the computer despite her protests. "I think we both have a bone to pick with him anyway. You in Matt?"

"Let's get him" he responded without hesitation. "We were able to stop him last time, and we know what were up against now".

"No you don't understand" Kari said before the boys could get to the portal. "I don't know how, but he used TK to make himself digivolve. He's stronger now". Both boys turned their attention to Kari as she desperately tried to stop them, both clearly confused. "That's what he wanted me for. Daemon was going to hurt me if TK didn't do what he wanted…I made him do it" she admitted, tears starting to form in her eyes. "Look, he let me go. He'll probably do the same thing so I'm going to get him back".

"Guys look" Izzy said before anyone else could speak. All of the children turned their attention back to Izzy's computer, where another figure began to form. Moments later, TK appeared before the group before he fell to the floor, landing painfully on his injured ribs. "TK?" Matt asked in a shock tone as he saw his little brother's state. "TK, what'd he do to you?" he said as he knelt by the blonde. TK could only painfully cough in response, worrying everyone in the room.

"Matt, we need to get him to a hospital" Tai said as his friend continued to stare worriedly at TK, Patamon flying in behind him.

"Right" he said after a moment, reaching into his pocket as he did so. Pulling out his keys, he tossed them to Izzy and said "Izzy, pull my car around front and well meet you down there. And call Joe; tell him to meet us at the hospital. Tai, I need you to help me carry TK; I'll get his injured side. Kari, I need you to stay ahead of us and make sure we don't have to stop for doors or anything else" he ordered as he began to pick TK up.

Tai quickly made his way to TK's side, looping the blonde's arm around his neck for support. TK seemed to be falling in and out of consciousness as the two boys began to move him, bucking his head in the process. "Tai…? Matt?" he asked quietly as he noticed the two older boys, "Is Kari here?"

"I'm here TK" Kari said before either of the boys had a chance to respond. Lifting his head to see the brunette, he gave a weak smile as he saw, causing Kari to approach him. "We're going to get you to a hospital TK; you're going to be ok. Just try to relax" she told him before leading the boys out of the apartment.

"Well, he's definitely in rough shape, but his injuries aren't life threating" Joe told the group as he walked into the waiting room. "You're lucky my dad and I were still here, I don't know who else would've been available at two in the morning" he finished, doing his best to make a joke.

"Can I see him now?" Kari asked, clearly wanting to make sure TK was ok herself.

"He's asleep right now, and we have him on some morphine so he'll probably be out for a while. If you wanted to sit in there with him that's fine. Just be sure to grab a nurse if anything happens". Nodding her head, she quickly brushed past him and made her way to TK's room. As she disappeared, Joe turned back to the boys and said "It looks like most of his ribs aren't broken, just cracked. But one of his ribs did manage to puncture his lung so it'll hurt him to breath at all…He's just going to have to take it easy for now. If anyone asks, we'll just say that he was involved in a hit-and-run accident. His injuries seem to be somewhat consistent with that, so no one will ask any questions" he explained.

"Did you want to go in with her Matt?" Tai asked as he noticed his friend remain still.

"What'd she tell you" Matt asked, not answering Tai's question, drawing a confused look from him. "When we got here, you and Izzy pulled her aside to talk to you" he told Tai, though not in an angry tone. "Did she say what happened to him? What she meant when she said TK helped Daemon digivolve?"

"Yeah, she told us everything she remembered" Izzy began. "You could tell she didn't want to talk about it yet, but Tai and I made her…well mostly Tai. After Daemon took her, he basically threatened to kill her if TK didn't do what he wanted. Naturally, TK obliged…Maybe we should sit down if I'm going to tell you everything".

The boys walked to some nearby seats and positioned them so that they would be in a circle. "She didn't really know what happened," Tai continued as the boys sat down "but somehow Daemon was able to charge TK's digivice with TK's negative emotions. As soon as he came into contact with it, he digivolved. Kari said that he turned into the same Digimon that she saw in her dreams".

"So basically we're dealing with a significantly stronger version of Daemon…I know I wasn't there for the last fight, but didn't you nearly not beat him?" Joe asked, worry evident in his voice.

"We got lucky" Tai said as calmly as he could. "In all honesty, saying it was a draw would be being nice…How come it had to be TK? It could've been any one of us; what made him so special?"

"A number of reasons really" Izzy said, leaning back in his seat. "We know that any of us can make Digimon digivolve, and TK has had to deal with the most, excluding Ken. Maybe Daemon just saw him as the easiest to break".

"That isn't it" Tai said, thinking out loud. "We all know how TK feels about evil Digimon; choosing TK to help him would be the dumbest move if he needed any of us…We should get a hold of Gennai tomorrow. Right now, let's just focus on getting some rest… Something tells me we're going to need it".

Kari groggily opened her eyes and lifted her head from TK's chest. Leaning back in the chair she was sitting in. She sighed and turned to look at the clock; it had just turned eight in the morning. "How are you feeling?" she heard a male voice ask, making her jump. After the initial shock, she turned to see Matt standing at the doorway.

"Um…I could be worse" she stammered, thinking to herself that he blamed her for everything that had happened. "Has anything happened since we got here?"

"Izzy and Joe went home. I decided to stay, and Tai figured you wouldn't want to leave" he explained as he walked up to the bed. "I guess you dozed off so it wouldn't have mattered anyways".

Nodding her head, the brunette turned her attention back to TK, scared to look at Matt. The two sat in silence for several minutes, with Kari's anxiety continuing to grow. After a few more moments, Kari found that she could no longer take the silence and said "I'm sorry Matt; I can only imagine how much you hate me right now. All of this is my fault. If it hadn't been for me, Daemon would have never taken TK, and TK would have never helped him digivolve…I screwed up and I don't know how I'm going to fix it".

"I could never hate you Kari. And you can't blame yourself for trying to do what you thought was right. You can't blame yourself for trying to save TK" he said without hesitation. "Look, we all know you and TK did what you had to do at the time. The only one to blame is Daemon. And we're going to stop him, I promise".

Kari continued to stare at TK, not completely convinced by Matt's words. Closing her eyes, she gave a small sigh and said "Don't keep me in the dark, ok? I know Tai will try and keep me away from all of this, but if you go after Daemon then I want to be a part of it".

Matt heard her request and felt obliged to tell her that it might be too dangerous for her, but stopped as he realized that this was an enemy that the Digidestined needed to work together in order to defeat. "Don't worry about being left in the dark; I'm sure we'll need everyone for this".

As the elevator opened, Sora took notice that all of the other Digidestined had arrived at the hospital before her. Stepping out, she immediately found Matt and embraced him with a hug, which he gladly returned. "How is he?" she finally asked as the two separated. "Is he going to be ok?"

"He's in rough shape, but Joe said he'll be ok as long as he takes it easy" he explained. "Come on, Izzy thinks he might've figured something out" he told the red-head as he motioned for her to join the other children. Nodding her head, she quickly followed him. It was late afternoon and all of the Digidestined had gone to the hospital as soon as their respective classes had dismissed for the day. Not only had they all come to see TK, but Izzy had said that he had some important news for everyone.

"Hey Sora" Izzy said as he noticed she and Matt join the others, excluding TK and Mimi. "Now that everyone is here I guess I can start. Last night, I tried to do a little more research on Daemon. As usual, I basically found nothing" Izzy began to explain. "But then I remembered what Gennai had said about a fallen angel Digimon. Does everyone remember what he said?"

"That they were angel Digimon that succumbed to the power of darkness" Davis said in an obvious tone. "But what does that matter, it's not like that has anything to do with-"

"You think Daemon used to be an Angemon" Ken suddenly said with a shocked tone, surprising everyone and cutting off Davis as he immediately reached the same conclusion as Izzy. "You think at some point Daemon was created from changing an Angemon".

"In all honesty it could've been anyone of his forms. He could've started off as a Patamon for all we know, but yes, I think that Daemon has a direct link to Patamon" Izzy answered.

"Then that would explain why Daemon would've wanted TK specifically" Yolie began to say out loud. "Because he would be the only one of us to make Daemon digivolve since he has the ability to make Patamon digivolve".

"That's right Yolie. All he would have to do is find a way to alter TK's ability to make Patamon digivolve, which is what he did with the dark sphere Kari was telling us about". Izzy paused for a moment to look at the other children as they took in what Izzy was saying. "Now this might be a longshot, but I think that we might be able to change him back…All of our Digimon return to their prior forms when they run out of energy. If we can make Daemon do that, I think we'll have a shot at taking him down".

"That might work, but he had to have thought of that beforehand" Tai said thoughtfully. "Are you sure that it can be done?"

"It has to" Izzy said after a moment. "I'm assuming his powers increased proportionally to that of Imperialdramon's power increase when he changes to fighter mode. That being said, we might not have enough fire power to even tickle him" he depressingly explained. "There's another thing" he continued after everyone was silent for several moments "I think there's more to this".

"What do you mean?" Kari asked, unsure if she wanted to hear the answer.

"You told me that Daemon is capable of opening portals, right?" he asked the younger children, resulting in a nod from each of them. "I think he wants to control all the different worlds in the same way he controls the Dark Ocean…I think he might use his new powers to find a way and open an even larger portal than ever before".

"So what does that matter?" Davis asked immediately, voicing everyone's thoughts. "Who cares how big he makes it? It won't make any difference. He's just going to enter that different world like he's been doing in our world. It doesn't matter how big me makes it".

"No…you're wrong Davis" Ken quietly said, worry etched in his voice. Everyone turned to look at Ken as he said this, only to see a look of fear on his face. Looking directly at Izzy, he said "Do you really think he's that powerful?" Ken asked, oblivious to the looks he was receiving.

"What are you guys talking about? What's wrong" Tai demanded as he looked back-and-forth between the two boys.

"Ken and I talked pretty extensively about portals last night when we were in my room…We think they act like a vacuum" he began to explain. "If something comes in close enough proximity then it sucks it in".

"And if that portal increases in size, then it'll start taking in more" Ken continued to explain. "If it can get large enough, then it will consume everything…even an entire planet; even an entire dimension".

"Wait, you're saying that Daemon might have the ability to transport Earth into the Dark Ocean?" Joe asked, hoping that he was misunderstanding what the two geniuses were explaining to him.

Izzy slowly nodded his head in response to Joe. "Daemon was complete control of the Dark Ocean; he draws power form it. If he opens a portal large enough between the different worlds, they'll enter the Dark Ocean. I think he's going to merge the worlds together with the Dark Ocean…that way he can rule every world while keeping his power at a maximum level".

"And I guess if that happens then its game over for everyone" Cody said, unable to keep quiet any longer. "How sure are you that Daemon is capable of this? That sounds like it'd be impossible".

"I talked to Gennai this morning…he agrees with my theory" Izzy admitted worriedly. "He told me that right now, the Digimon Sovereigns and the Destiny Stones will prevent that from happening…We don't know the extent of his new abilities, but Daemon probably has enough power to take care of both of those".

"Kari, you said that Daemon was going to…experiment his powers before he does anything else, right?" Tai asked the young brunette, which she hesitantly responded to with a nod. "That means we can't do anything until Daemon shows himself in either our world or the Digital World" he thought out loud. "The plan is to wait for him to make the first move. With Daemon drawing extra power form the Dark Ocean, it'd be suicide to go after him on his own turf. Right now everyone needs to go and get their Digimon… We all need to get home and get some rest; we won't have that luxury later. Keep your D-terminals on you; as soon as something happens we let everyone else know, ok?"

"Once Daemon attacks, someone should probably stay with TK" Cody said after Tai had finished talking, drawing questioning looks from the others. "Someone needs to make sure he doesn't try to get involved in this too soon. If he does, he might get himself more injured…or worse. Since Armadillomon can't digivolve past the champion level without Patamon, I'll do it. I'll just get in the way anyways; Armadillomon won't be strong enough to do anything".

"Good thinking" Tai told the young boy. "Last I checked, TK was still unconscious, but it probably wouldn't hurt if any of you wanted to go see him". The Digidestined began to make their way towards TK's room, leaving only Tai, Matt and Kari. When the three were left alone Tai asked "Were you planning on staying here tonight Matt?"

"No…I have a lot of explaining to do to my parents. Besides, TK would tell me to leave anyways. I was going to come back in the morning though" he explained. "When are you two planning on leaving?"

"I'm going to stay" Kari said before her older brother had a chance to respond. "I'm not going home until I know he's ok" she told the boys plainly.

"Kari, Joe already told us he was going to be fine" Tai began to argue. "Besides, Mom and Dad are going to freak out if they don't see you soon. I haven't talked to them at all in the past two days and neither have you. You're coming home".

"Just tell them I wanted to stay and that I'm fine" she argued back. "I'm not going to leave him like this". Kari continued to argue with her brother before she heard the sound of laughter coming from TK's room, surprising the small group. "I guess that means he's awake now" Matt muttered, turning his attention away from the siblings. "It looks like you two need to talk this out so I'll just go see him". Patting his best friend on his back, Matt turned away and began to make his way to TK's room.

"He's awake now Kari, now will you please agree to go home?" Tai asked. "You're not doing anyone any good by staying here. I promise you we can come back first thing in the morning" he said, almost begging.

"He almost died for me Tai" she told him, breathing heavily. "And I repaid him by letting Daemon use me against him…I understand where you're coming from Tai, but…please Tai. Just let me stay here tonight. I swear it will just be this one night, and I'll be home for dinner tomorrow…Just tonight" she asked as she began to hold back her tears.

Tai stared at his younger sister for several minutes, debating what the best thing to do was. Finally, he nodded his head and said "I'll cover for you tonight, but just be prepared for Mom when you get home tomorrow". Walking forward, Tai embraced his sibling in a hug and whispered in her ear "And stop beating yourself up, you're going to end up hurting yourself and him…Stay out here, Matt and I will go explain everything to him so you don't have to. Then we'll leave you two alone".

Kari poked her head into TK's room, making sure that she was in fact the last of the children to leave. "Kari?" she heard a familiar voice ask, forcing a small smile to appear on her face. "Hey, I thought you had left with Tai" he said, sounding surprisingly happy for someone who was stuck in a hospital.

"I couldn't leave and not say goodbye" she said jokingly as she positioned a chair next to his bed and sat down. "I'm actually going to stay the night with you. Matt told the nurses and Tai said he would take care of my parents" she explained casually, though she intentionally avoided making eye contact with TK.

"Hmmm, I don't suppose I can convince you that I'm fine and that you need to go home, can I?" TK asked sarcastically, already knowing what her answer would be. "I would try to argue, but I've learned long ago how difficult you can be".

"Well that's just mean" Kari responded, equally sarcastic. "So…I guess Matt and Tai already told you about…well, you know" she asked, not wanting to dwell on the matter for very long.

"Yeah, they told me the gist of it" he answered. "Not really what I would want to wake up hearing, but I guess it's better to learn about now rather than later…" he trailed off. "I guess it can't be helped now though. Anyways… Tai told me that you were having a hard time with all of this… is that true?" TK watched as Kari closed her eyes and slowly nodded her head, not trusting herself to keep her composure. "Kari…Look I'm not going to pretend that this isn't looking really bad, but we can't give up. We both made plenty of mistakes in the last few days; that doesn't mean we can't find a way to set things right".

"How can you be so sure? You saw him too TK; I'm not so sure we can stop him this time" she told the blonde quietly. "I know we can't give up hope, but…it's hard not to".

"I know Kari" he answered. "But whatever happens, I'm not going to stop; none of us are. No matter how hard it gets, no matter how hopeless in might seem, we're going to keep fighting".

Nodding her head in agreement, the young brunette gave a small smile and said "We must be crazy TK…refusing to quit even when it all seems lost".

"It is crazy Kari…but that's why we're going to win" he told her. The two teens sat in silence after TK said this as they reflected on how grateful they were that the other was safe. Soon, the light in the hospital room began to fade, signaling to the children that the night was fast approaching. "Kari, where were you planning on sleeping? The chair?" TK asked as he realized that the lack of an extra bed presented a problem.

"Um…I actually didn't think about that" she answered, shifting in his seat. "I guess a chair would be the best place though. I can just pull up another one and prop my feet up" she explained as she rose from her seat.

"Wait" he said, grabbing her arm. "I can make room in the bed; we can both sleep here. That is, if you don't mind" he said. "I mean, I know we've never shared a bed before, but you did fall asleep on me at my house a few nights ago. This is almost the same thing" he finished as he slid towards one side of the bed, making enough room for her.

"I'm not going to take part of the bed TK" she said with a laugh. "I wouldn't necessarily mind, but I'm pretty sure we can get in trouble if a nurse or a doctor saw me sleeping on a hospital bed with a patient. Besides, you need to be able to move if you get uncomfortable".

"How about I take the chair and then you can sleep on the bed by yourself then?" he asked, beginning to rise from the bed.

"TK, stop it!" Kari exclaimed, caught off guard by TK's actions. "You're staying in the bed. I mean you're hurt; you shouldn't be moving at all" she continued, trying to gently force him back onto the bed.

"Here's how I see it then" TK began, not putting up much resistance to Kari "either we can both be comfortable in the bed, or we both sleep on a chair. It's your move" he said, staring at the brunette. "So, what's it going to be?" he asked as she remained quiet.

"Fine" she said, slightly pouting. Going to the other side of the hospital bed, Kari carefully got onto the bed and under the covers, making TK smile in amusement. "Don't act so happy TK; you know I'm going to get out of this bed as soon as fall asleep".

"That would require you to stay awake longer than I will" he said with a laugh, mocking their earlier predicament. "Considering I've been unconscious for almost 18 hours, I would say this might not be a winnable scenario for you" he told her with a grin. Flipping onto his uninjured side, TK looked at Kari and continued to smile, drawing the same action from her.

"We should probably get some rest; it's been a long couple of days for both of us" Kari told TK as the two continued to stare at each other, smiling. Finally breaking the eye contact, Kari turned completely around so that her back was towards TK. To keep herself warmer, she carefully scooted backwards until her back was completely touching TK's chest. As she did this, she felt his arm slowly wrap around her waist, pulling the young brunette closer to him, resulting in a larger smile to form onto Kari's face. "Hey TK," she asked as the two continued to lie peacefully in silence. "What were you going to ask me in the park before all of this? You were asking me something about college".

TK gave a small laugh as she asked the question before he answered, which Kari immediately recognized as his nervous laugh. "Well…I wanted to ask you if you might want to…I mean…I was trying to ask if you maybe wanted to…go to college…together…I just figured that it would be nice for both of us to have a familiar face around when we go to an unfamiliar place…I mean it was just an idea, kind of stupid now that I say it out loud" he began to stutter, but was stopped as he saw Kari's head turn around to face him.

"I'd love to go to college with you TK" she answered with a smile. "You're right; it'd be nice to have something familiar in an unfamiliar place. And I'm not going to lie, the thought of you being around makes me feel a little safer. It's hard to explain but…it's just nice to know that I'll have you around" she finished. TK stared at her smiling as she finished, knowing more words would ruin the moment the two friends just shared. "Now that we have that figured out," Kari continued, turning her head back to the previous position "it's time that we get some sleep…Goodnight TK, have sweet dreams" she finished softly.

"Goodnight Kari" he whispered into her ear before closing his eyes. TK soon felt Kari's breathing begin to form a rhythmic pattern and realized she had quickly fallen asleep. Smiling, TK pulled the brunette closer to him and did the same.

A nurse slowly walked down the halls of the hospital, checking each room to ensure all the patients had been attended to. As she neared the desk, she stopped at one room and noticed that two young teenagers, a boy and a girl, had fallen asleep on the same bed. The boy had short, messy blonde hair and was dressed in a patient's attire, signaling to her that he was the one that was supposed to be there. Beside him, a brunette girl of the same age was cuddled against him, letting his figure surrounds hers. In addition to this, the nurse took note that the blonde's arm was intimately wrapped around the girl's waist, making the nurse smile at the show of affection. Sighing, she prepared to wake the two teens up but stopped as she saw the look of happiness plastered on the teenagers' face, despite their unconscious state.

The nurse walked to the end of the bed and picked up the boy's medical report, seeing that his name was Takeru "TK" Takaishi. After glancing through his injury report, the nurse returned the report to its place and took one last glance at the two teens. "I guess I can let this one slide this time…it seems like you've been through enough" she whispered.

Leaving the room, the nurse left a small crack in the door so that she could here if any of the monitors went off. As she did so, the nurse found herself secretly hoping that no other worker would discover the two as she wanted to leave them undisturbed.

**So the last part of this chapter was kinda pointless, but I thought it would be good for a third person's view of TK and Kari's relationship would be interesting. I'm sure most of you have already figured this out, but I'm going to go ahead and say this: This is a "slight" Takari story (I put the quotations because I never really intended to write too much about a romance but it just happened). I hope everyone enjoyed their holidays and seeing how I probably won't get anything posted by the start of 2013, I wish everyone a Happy New Year. Hope you enjoyed this chapter and please review. Thanks.**


	18. The First Steps

**Hey everyone. I hope all of you are enjoying the New Year. So last post, I said that this was a "slight" Takari, which might've sounded stupid at the time. Basically I was trying to be sarcastic in the sense that this story probably wouldn't have gotten very far without a relationship between TK and Kari. Originally, I didn't plan on writing so much about it, but I quickly discovered it was a bigger piece of the plot and needed to be focused on more that I intended. Now that we have that explained (somewhat) please read and enjoy.**

**Disclaimer:**** I don't own Digimon**

Kari slowly opened her eyes and watched as the sun began to illuminate the hospital room, filling her with a welcomed sense of peace. Leaning her head back, she suddenly felt a warm breath on the back of her neck and smiled as she recounted the events of the previous night, and how she had ended up sleeping in the same bed as TK. Looking towards her waist, she noticed TK's arm tightly wrapped around her, keeping her in an intimate position with him. "TK?" she whispered, trying to see if the blonde had woken up. After she received no response, Kari began to try and quietly get out of the cot, but stopped when she heard TK grunt in disapproval. "Stop it, I'm comfortable" she heard the blonde say, though he still sounded as if he were barely waking.

"Well then I should get out of bed so you can stay that way" Kari told him, smiling. "Besides, we're going to get in trouble if someone sees us. I don't know how no one saw us last night". TK chose not to say anything to Kari, instead choosing to pull the brunette closer to him, prompting Kari to turn her head towards TK. "You're ridiculous" Kari told him with a smile, holding back a laugh.

"Funny how I don't care… Good morning by the way" he told her half-heartedly, his deep, blue eyes finally becoming visible.

"Good morning to you too" she responded cheerfully. "…Just so someone here is the voice of reason I'll say this out loud: Do you realize how this would look if someone walked in right now?"

"Yeah, I know…but you have to admit; this is kind of nice…Right?" he asked nervously, a serious look on his face as he stared at Kari.

"Yeah it is" she said after a pause, staring into TK's deep, blue eyes "In fact that was the best sleep I've ever had". TK continued holding Kari by her waist, keeping the two in an intimate proximity. Simultaneously, both TK and Kari felt their hearts begin to beat loudly, though neither noticed as their attention was solely focused on the other. An odd mixture of feelings began to stir in each of the teens, as both were overcome by equal amounts of fear and excitement; of strength and weakness. Taking deep breaths, TK and Kari's faces began to inch closer and closer together, and both realized a kiss was about to occur between the friends. As the two closed their eyes, they allowed their feelings to take over and-

"Am I interrupting something" the teens suddenly heard. TK and Kari's eyes quickly shot open and broke the intimate moment as they heard the question, making both teenagers snap their heads towards the door. "I can come back if I need to" Matt offered, doing his best to hide a laugh. As he said this, TK and Kari quickly realized that the blonde's arm was still tightly wrapped around Kari. Immediately, TK jerked his arm away and tried to make as much distance between him and the brunette as the bed would allow, with Kari following suit. The action resulted in blood rushing to the two teen's face in embarrassment as the situation became increasingly awkward.

"Matt…" TK stammered in obvious surprise. "What are you doing here? I…I thought you weren't coming until the morning".

Matt stared at TK, clearly debating what the best response to TK's question was. "Little bro" he began in an obvious tone "it is morning…See the sun?" he asked, pointing at the window as he did so. TK took a quick glance at the window and began to mentally hit himself for asking a stupid question. Unsure of what to do next, TK gave a sideways look at Kari and noticed she was doing the same thing, prompting both teens to quickly return their gaze to Matt. Sighing, the older blonde walked into the room and took a position near TK's side of the bed "So…" Matt began, "I assume the two of you were comfortable last night, but now it's time for you to head home and get ready for school Kari. Sora is downstairs pick to drive you; Tai had to meet with Izzy this morning about some project that they haven't been able to get to cause of…well I'm sure I don't have to explain that".

"Um….yeah I guess I'll go ahead and leave then" she stammered nervously, quickly and awkwardly getting out of the hospital bed. Kari refused to look at either of the boys as she did her best to leave the room, being clumsy in the process. "Kari…" she heard TK say in a sad voice just as she reached the door, forcing her to stop. Taking a deep breath, Kari turned around to face TK, who had a sad and confused look on his face. TK opened his mouth to say something, but stopped as Kari began to speak. "I'll call you, ok?" she told him in a shaky voice, still showing hints of nervousness.

"But" TK began to say, but was once again cut off as he saw Kari give him a wide, honest smile. "I know TK…Later, I promise" she assured him. Although he wanted her to stay, TK chose to let the matter go for the moment and instead returned Kari's smile with one of his own. "Goodbye" she quietly said before she quickly left the room to leave the two brothers alone.

"Bye" TK quietly responded, though he knew that there was no way that she had heard him. As he heard her fading footsteps, TK continued to stare at the doorway, wishing that the brunette would walk back in though he knew it wouldn't happen.

"Um…" Matt began to say to TK, though it didn't break his trance. "I know you know that I trust you, but I'm obliged as a big brother to ask…You two just slept, right? You didn't…you know".

"No Matt, I didn't" TK answered, still looking at the doorway. "We just slept, nothing else happened".

"And when I walked in? What about that?"

"….I was about to kiss her Matt…I was about to kiss Kari" he answered, finally turning his attention to his older brother, a smile threatening to form on his mouth.

Tai lazily sat at his desk, mentally hitting himself for choosing to wake up at the time he did. "How is it that I'm the early one and Izzy is late?" Tai asked out loud, not caring that there was no one to answer him. Pulling out his D-terminal, he began to type a message to the red-haired genius, not caring that he had misspelled half of the words. Just as he was about to hit send the message, he heard someone enter the class panting. "Hey Tai" Izzy greeted as he took a seat and pulled out his laptop. "Sorry I'm late, but I was up all night finishing this presentation for us and I just slept right through my alarm".

"The presentation that we're supposed to be working on right now?" Tai asked with a hint of irritation. Izzy casually nodded his head in response, not seeming to notice Tai's tone. "Izzy, what's the point of telling me to meet you here to work on a project if you were planning to do it on your own? I mean normally I'd be happy about that, but I chose to deprive myself three hours of sleep".

"Because with this being a big part of our grade, I wanted to make sure you didn't find a way to mess things up" Izzy responded jokingly. At first, Tai opened his mouth to defend himself, but stopped as he thought about the "wisdom" in his words. "Fair enough" Tai said as he leaned over to look at what Izzy had accomplished. "Looks good" the brunette commented.

"Thanks. Anyways, I wanted you here so that you could go over what you need to say. Here" Izzy explained as he handed Tai two sheets of paper. "That's all the information you need to say. Memorize it and you'll be fine".

Tai took the papers and began to skim through Izzy's notes, realizing he didn't know what half of the words meant. "Izzy, I'm so glad I decided to take Anatomy with you" he sarcastically said, following his joke up with a laugh. However, as he uttered the joke, Izzy's computer began giving off an all too familiar beeping noise, signaling that a portal was opening. "This can't be happening right now" Tai muttered as he returned to Izzy's side and stared at the screen as he opened the tracking program. "Is that-?"

"Yes" Izzy replied, not bothering to look at Tai as he began typing on his laptop. "I guess we can assume Daemon is done testing out his new powers" he muttered. After a moment, Izzy pulled up a map of the Digital World, which had a blinking red light on it. "That's approximately where the portal is opening at. According to my calculations, he'll gain access to the Digital World in a matter of seconds. His powers must've amplified his ability to open portals".

"Kari told me where the last Destiny Stone was; it's nowhere near where your computer is showing the portal. Are you sure your computer is tracking it correctly?" Tai asked.

"Positive. If I had to guess, that is where the Sovereigns must be recovering. It would make sense for him to go after them first" Izzy answered. "Tai, even if they're fully recovered, we don't know how powerful Daemon has become. The Sovereigns might not have enough power to defeat him".

"Then we're going to have to back them up" Tai said, rising to his feet and pulling out his digivice.

"OK…Everyone else is in class and probably turned off their D-terminals so we can't email them; it'll just be us…I'll work on getting a portal opened near that location" he explained. "Is Agumon nearby?"

"Yeah, I hid him down the hall when I got here".

"Good. Tentomon decided to fly here on his own so he should be here any minute. Go grab Agumon and we'll leave ASAP". As Tai ran to the door to retrieve his partner, he stopped as he heard Izzy make one last comment. "For the record Tai, don't think it's a good idea to go in there before we can get everyone together" he said, not looking up from his laptop.

"It's not" Tai answered before running out of the class.

MegaKabuterimon zoomed through the air towards where Izzy thought Daemon would be. Holding on tightly to his back, Izzy peaked over his partner's massive frame to see smoke rising in the distance. "I think the battle's already started!" Izzy yelled back to Tai and Agumon, who were also riding on MegaKabuterimon's back.

"That might mean were too late" Tai yelled back, clearly worried. "How far away do you think we are?" Tai didn't have to wait long for a response as he suddenly felt MegaKabuterimon begin to descend. Taking a deep breath, Tai attempted to calm his nerves as he turned to Agumon. "Ready for round two?" he asked the orange dinosaur.

"That's what you should be asking him" Agumon responded, clearly doing his best to sound confident.

As soon as MegaKabuterimon landed, the small group jumped off of the large Digimon and prepared to fight but found nothing except for the smell of smoke. "Where is everyone?" Tai asked out loud. Looking over to the ground, he found several large burns revealing that a battle had recently taken place there. In addition to the marks, several nearby trees looked to have been hit and knocked over by a large force, while others had flames covering them.

"This makes no sense" Izzy said as he knelt by one of the burn marks. "All the signs show that there was a huge battle, but nothing is here". Rising back to his full height, Izzy continued to look around but only succeed in confusing himself even more. "There's no way they all could've disappeared" he said thoughtfully.

"You're smarter than your pathetic species looks" a voice suddenly said above the boys. Instantly, the boys snapped their heads up and saw Daemon begin to descend a few yards away from them. "It's a shame. The two of you missed all the fun" Daemon gloated as he landed, his wings collapsing into his robe. Daemon began to walk towards the children as a quiet thunder could be heard with every step he took. Behind him, he left a small trail of flames that instantly killed any nearby life.

"Where are they Daemon?" Tai asked after the initial shock of seeing the dark-robed Digimon. "What'd you do to the Sovereigns?" 

"Don't worry child, I didn't delete them. As weak as they may be, it is in my best interest to let them live. I merely returned them to their imprisonment that the Dark Masters originally put them in. I just finished trapping them in there myself" he responded. "Now that the Sovereigns are out of the way, I must find and destroy the last remaining Destiny Stone".

"That's not happening while we're around" Tai yelled defiantly. "Agumon, let's get him" he said turning to the orange Digimon. After seeing his partner nod in response, Tai lifted his Digivice, emitting a bright light that surrounded Agumon.

"Agumon warp digivolve to…WarGreymon!" As soon as the light faded, the armor-clad, dinosaur Digimon jumped towards Daemon, swinging his claws as he did so.

"Horn Buster!" MegaKabuterimon yelled as he charged the evil Digimon from above with his most powerful attack.

Daemon grabbed WarGreymon's claws as soon as the dinosaur-like Digimon was close enough and violently threw him to the ground, turning his back to MegaKabuterimon in the process. Seeing this as an opportunity, MegaKabuterimon charged towards Daemon even faster, intending on knocking Daemon out with one blow.

As soon as MegaKabuterimon made contact with Daemon, a huge explosion was triggered and the children were forced to cover their faces from the blast. "He did it!" Tai exclaimed, disbelief in his voice. As the dust cleared, Tai excitingly looked to see the damage that was done to Daemon, but gasped as he witnessed the sight before him. Lying on his back was MegaKabuterimon, too weak from the blast to move. Daemon was still on his feet as if nothing had happened, his back still turned to the children. From what he could see, MegaKabuterimon had accomplished nothing but injuring himself.

Finally tuning around, Daemon walked over to where MegaKabuterimon was laying and raised his foot in preparation to stomp. "NO!" Izzy yelled as Daemon's foot fell and landed on MegaKabuterimon, instantly making him revert back to Tentomon. Izzy tried to run to his partner, but Tai held onto him firmly, trying to stop him from making any rash decisions. "Izzy be smart about this. We have to wait for the right opportunity" Tai told him.

"This is your last warning before I make an example out of you" Daemon told the children as he kicked Tentomon towards Tai and Izzy. The small, bug Digimon bounced towards them until Tai released Izzy, allowing him to pick Tentomon up and cradle him. "Leave, I want to save your defeat for last" Daemon ordered.

"Don't forget about me!" WarGreymon yelled as he rose to his feet again behind Daemon. Jumping into the air, WarGreymon began to spin at an extremely fast rate until he formed an orange tornado. "Great Tornado!" the mighty Digimon yelled as he began to propel himself towards Daemon.

Daemon jumped out of WarGreymon's way, avoiding his attack by mere millimeters as he passed by. WarGreymon ceased his attack after it had been evaded, and turned around to face the demon-Digimon as soon as he had stopped. "What's wrong? Don't think you can handle me?" WarGreymon asked, trying to provoke Daemon.

"I've run out of patience with you insects" Daemon said as his wings suddenly sprang from his back, leaping into the air as he did so. WarGreymon tensed up as he did this motion, preparing his claws in order to protect himself. "YOU CLAIM TO PROTECT THESE CHILDREN! THEN PROVE IT!"

"Gladly!" WarGreymon shouted back to Daemon. Leaping into the air himself, WarGreymon bent slightly backwards as he prepared to unleash his most powerful attack onto Daemon. "TERRA FORCE!" the dinosaur-like Digimon yelled as a large, orange ball of energy began to form in his claws. When his arms couldn't contain the massive amount of energy any longer, WarGreymon hurled it towards Daemon, intending to take him out with one blow.

Daemon seemed unfazed by WarGreymon's actions as he calmly watched his enemy attack. As the projectile hurtled towards him, Daemon extended his right arm and stood his ground. Just as the attack was about to connect with Daemon, it suddenly stopped in front of his hand and remained levitating in the air, the energy never touching Daemon's palm. "Do you like my new trick? The Sovereigns were caught by surprise when I showed it to them".

"That's impossible!" Tai gasped as he continued to watch the battle. "That should've knocked him into next week!"

"You give the Child of Hope too little credit. You can finally see the true extent of his powers: ME!" Daemon suddenly sent WarGreymon's attack flying back towards him, giving WarGreymon only enough time to shield himself with his claws. Despite his defensive adjustment, the blow sent WarGreymon flying back several yards, cracking his armor in the process. He violently hit the ground and rolled several more feet before finally stopping, grunting in pain the entire time.

"You better get up, especially if you plan on protecting them" Daemon taunted as he began to walk towards the fallen Digimon. WarGreymon desperately tried to use his arms to raise himself, but only managed to get a few inches off the ground before collapsing again. When Daemon was only a step away from him, he reached down and grabbed WarGreymon with one arm, throwing him towards Tai and Izzy, landing an arm's length away.

Raising his right arm once more, Daemon pointed at the small group and said "We'll see each other again soon…if you survive". Upon his last word, a flame began to form in the palm of Daemon's extended hand, which quickly grew in size; soon the flame was almost as large as the demon Digimon. "EVIL INFERNO!" Daemon finally yelled, sending the flame hurtling towards them as it continued to grow.

"TAI!" WarGreymon yelled as he realized what Daemon was doing. Using every ounce of his remaining strength, WarGreymon jumped to his feet and propelled himself in front of his partner, Izzy, and Tentomon.

The flames connected with WarGreymon with a thunderous explosion, pushing him forward though he refused to collapse in fear of letting the flames reach his friends. Despite his best efforts, several of the flames managed to get around him and explode in front of Tai and Izzy, knocking them off their feet, leaving them bruised and scarred. Just as WarGreymon felt he didn't have enough strength to protect his partner anymore, he felt the flames diminish from his back and the attack cease. Too weak to stand anymore, WarGreymon fell to his knees with a groan and reverted back to Agumon.

"Agumon!" Tai yelled painfully as he witnessed Agumon fall onto his face. Tai managed to get to his feet and jogged over to his partner, relieved to see that he was still breathing. "Tai…? I'm sorry I couldn't handle him…" the small, orange dinosaur managed to say. He was just too strong for me".

"Don't say that, you were great out there" Tai managed to say, clearly struggling to find his words. Scooping him up into a hug Tai whispered "You did everything you could. There's nothing to be sorry for". Breathing heavily, Tai turned back to where Daemon was standing and was relieved to see that the evil Digimon had disappeared.

"Tai," he heard Izzy say from behind him, still holding Tentomon "we have to get back. Daemon's way stronger than we thought he'd be and he could go after the Destiny Stone at any time. We need to regroup".

Nodding his head, Tai turned back to Agumon to see that he had fallen unconscious. "Did you bring your laptop?" he asked, which Izzy immediately answered to by nodding his head. "Good, that'll save us some walking. Open a portal to the computer lab at Kari's school".

The bell for lunchtime had just sounded and Kari found herself zooming through the halls looking for Yolie. Luckily, she didn't have to look long as she noticed the lavender haired Digidestined was putting books into her locker while also talking on her phone. "Yeah we should all go see TK after we get out of class. Speaking of which, I was thinking we should all pitch in and buy something for him. You know, a get-well-soon-present" Kari heard her say as she got close.

Yolie didn't appear to notice Kari approach her as she continued on with her conversation, a sarcastic annoyance beginning to form in her tone. "Of course I think it's a good idea Ken, that's why I said it…I know he's trying not to make a big deal out of this but-…We'll see ok?...Good. I'll talk to you later ok?...Love you too. Bye Ken" Yolie said cheerily as she finally hung up the phone. "Kari!" Yolie said as she noticed the younger brunette. "Are you ok? I know we didn't talk much yesterday, but I figured you were tired and needed to-"

"Can we talk?" Kari cut her off, clearly nervous.

"Um sure. Is everything ok?" she asked, worried that her best friend was acting funny. Kari nodded her head, but Yolie clearly remained skeptical. "Ok, um…girl's restroom ok?" Nodding her head once more, Kari turned around and began to walk to the designated location, biting her lip the whole time. "Ok, what's going on Kari? You're scaring me" Yolie asked when the two girls finally made it to the restroom.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to worry you. It's nothing life threating Yolie, I promise. It's just…something happened and I don't know what to do about it" she admitted nervously.

"Well what is it? Surely it can't be that big of a deal" Yolie said, trying to help Kari relax.

"Yolie…TK and I…we…we kind of slept together last night" Kari nervously stammered.

"YOU WHAT!?" Yolie shrieked, making Kari jump. The purple-haired girl was instantly in Kari's face, making Kari instinctually step away. "Kari you slept with TK?" Yolie asked, apparently aware of the previous volume of her voice as she had quieted it down to a whisper. "Kari, I know that the two of you have a connection, but don't you think that's a little fast? I mean don't get me wrong I'm happy for the both of you but I really don't think you need to be having sex, especially with TK hurt right now".

"What-? Yolie no!" Kari said as she covered her face to hide the blood that had suddenly rushed there, suddenly aware of hoe her previous statement sounded. "OK, I know the way I said that could've ben misleading. It wasn't that kind of slept together, just _slept_ together. Like just on the same bed" she quickly said, almost to the point where Yolie didn't understand her, clearly still embarrassed.

"Ohhhh" Yolie said after she had time to register what Kari had just explained. "Well then…I mean you've done that before right? What's the big deal?" she questioned.

"I mean…I really liked it. If I had a chance, I think I would do it again…And this morning we were about to kiss…Matt walked in so we didn't but…" she managed to say.

Yolie did her best to hide her smile as Kari stammered, but knew she was doing a horrible job of it. "Kari…I mean isn't this a good thing? I mean you both clearly like each other and-"

"Yolie this isn't the time for that to happen. With everything that's going on, with everything I've put him through, he doesn't need this right now" she quickly said.

"Maybe it is what he needs right now; maybe it's what both of you need" Yolie said calmly after a moment, drawing a confused look from Kari. "Look, you're right. It is crazy right now, and it doesn't look like it's going to get much better anytime soon. That begin said, wouldn't it be nice to have someone to confide with on a special level when things get really bad? I mean, I know I do. Sometimes I think Ken is the only reason why I make it through the day; I wouldn't trade what we had for anything". Walking over to Kari's side, Yolie placed an arm around Kari's shoulder and said "Look, if you're worried that he might not feel the same way then you've clearly been on another planet. He loves you Kari. Maybe he doesn't realize it yet, but he does…And I'm pretty sure you know how you feel about him".

Kari turned her head and looked Yolie straight in the eye. Breathing heavily, she could feel her heart pound within her chest as she attempted to find the courage to tell Yolie the truth; to admit the truth to herself. "Yolie…I'm falling for him"

**Well I hope all of you liked what this chapter had to offer. I would love to hear your opinions on this chapter and/or the story as a whole, so please leave a review. Thanks for reading.**


	19. Final Plans

**As most of you would agree, this chapter is long over do. For those of you who haven't done the math, it's been a little over four months since my last post. I don't mean to make excuses, but school has been really time consuming. Luckily though, it's summer now, meaning I can put more time into this story. Anyways, nothing happens in this chapter from an action standpoint, but I think it's necessary because I feel it sets several things up for the finale. Please enjoy and review and the end. Thanks.**

"Yolie… I'm falling for him" Kari told Yolie, finally admitting the obvious to herself while sighing. Leaning back into the wall, Kari took a deep breath and looked at the ground. "What should I do? I mean, I think it's only fair for both of us to tell him but…I can't just throw this at him after everything that's happened. He almost died two days ago; he doesn't need anymore drama right now".

Yolie opened her mouth to tell Kari that she was being stupid, but thought better of it before anything came out. "Kari," she finally began, "I don't think staying quiet is the right thing to do. But if that's how you feel then I'll keep my mouth shut" she finished, giving her friend a reassuring smile. "I just want you to know how difficult this is going to be for me. This is huge; it's been more than a decade in the making. I don't know how long I can stay quiet" she sarcastically added.

Kari couldn't help but laugh at Yolie's remark, and raised her head to look back at the lavender-haired girl. "I know it's a lot for me to ask out of you…Thank you Yolie. It means a lot to me" she said softly. "When all this is over….I promise I'll let him know how I feel".

"OK…and you never know; this could be over sooner than you think" Yolie said enthusiastically. "Once the Sovereigns recover from the last battle with Daemon, we might be too much for him to handle, even with his new powers".

"Yeah" she muttered, clearly not convinced though she was glad someone could be optimistic. "Anyways, sorry to take up your lunch period; we can go grab something if you'd like" Kari offered. "I'll buy" she added.

"Not necessary, but thanks for offering" she responded while walking to the mirror. "Just let me just redo my-" Yolie suddenly found herself cut-off by the sound of her and Kari's D-terminals going off, simultaneously. "Did you get that too?" Yolie asked in a skeptical tone, already knowing the answer.

"Yeah" Kari said with the same tone, pulling out her device as she did so. "It's from Tai…" she said, a frown forming on her face. Yolie took the device from Kari as the younger brunette handed it to her, and read: _**Computer Lab, Now. –Tai**_. "That doesn't sound good" Yolie commented.

"You don't think…it's about Daemon, do you?" Kari asked nervously. "I mean…he couldn't have mastered his new powers already… could he?"

"Yeah, that's impossible" Yolie agreed. "It's barely been a day since everything happened…Whatever it is, it sounds important. But I'm sure we'll be able to handle it" she finished, though it was clear she didn't believe herself.

Yolie and Kari quickly made their way down school hallways towards the computer lab, doing their best to avoid drawing attention to themselves. As the two girls finally reached the lab, Kari quickly glanced at her surroundings to ensure no one was following them before entering. Opening the door, the first thing that she noticed was Izzy and Tai's backs as the two were hunched over Izzy's laptop, clearly focusing all of their attention on the screen. "Do you think this will work?" she heard Tai ask the red head.

"Maybe…I've never tried trying to cloak something so powerful. But I don't have any better ideas" Izzy responded. "And it doesn't help that we have no idea when he's going after it. And Davis better be right about where the stone is. If he gets to it before us then we're going to be I trouble".

"Tai?" Kari asked, causing both boys to give their attention to the girls. "Oh my god, Tai! What happened to you?" Kari exclaimed as she saw the scars on her brother's face and the slightly burnt clothing he was wearing.

Without hesitation, Kari went to her brother's side and began to clean the blood off of his forehead with the sleeve of her shirt. "Ouch!" Tai yelled as Kari roughly attended the scar. "Kari stop, it was just a scratch" he told her, pulling away before she could hurt him anymore.

"What…What happened, it looks like you were just in a burning building" Kari asked, still worried about the well-being of her brother. Taking her eyes off of him for a moment, she turned to see that Izzy's physical condition mirrored Tai's, though he seemed to be in a gloomier mood. Finally, Kari looked down at the boy's feet and noticed Tentomon and Agumon were sound asleep by their partner's. Similar to Izzy and Tai, both of the Digimon were covered in smoke. "What happened?"

Izzy glanced at Tai to see if he wanted to explain, but received no signal that he wanted to. "We went after Daemon" Izzy bluntly said. "It's probably pretty obvious, but it didn't turn out too well. Tentomon and Agumon got pretty banged up, but they'll be ok" he explained.

"Why would you go after Daemon alone?" Kari asked, irritation evident in her voice. "After what happened to TK, do you really think I'd be ok with this!?"

"I didn't think we were going to be alone" Tai immediately answered, clearly being defensive. "We saw a portal was opening and we thought it was Daemon going after the Sovereigns. We thought they'd be there to help us but…"

"But what" Yolie asked as Tai trailed off. She watched as Tai and Izzy exchanged a glance, making her realize just how lucky the two boys were. "They weren't there" she stated, drawing nods from the two boys. "But that means they're ok, right? They're probably hiding and planning out their next move. They wouldn't just disappear!"

"You're right, they wouldn't" Tai answered before taking a deep breath. "By the time we got there, Daemon had already defeated them. And then he kicked our butts".

"A massacre is more like it" Izzy commented. "He basically let us hit him. Nothing we threw at him seemed to hurt him. And I don't know how, but he was able to reverse our attacks at us…We didn't stand a chance".

"…What are we going to do?" Yolie asked nervously, unsure if she wanted to hear the answer. "I mean…it doesn't sound like you guys think we can beat him…You don't do you?" she asked after Tai turned his gaze towards the ground.

"We protect the last Destiny Stone" Izzy told Yolie. "I'm sure Daemon doesn't know where it is, but I'm willing to bet that won't be the case for long. At full strength we might be able to stop him, but with TK out of action…MagnaAngemon might be the most effective Digimon against Daemon".

"We can't let him fight" Kari told the small group. "He's injured enough as it is; we can't take that risk".

"We're not going to" Tai quickly said. "In fact, this doesn't get to TK. He never finds out this happened. If he did, he'll probably insist on fighting with us. Like Kari said," he continued, turning to meet Kari's gaze "we can't risk his life. Besides, at this point we're not trying to win a fight with him. Right now we're going to buy ourselves time to hide the Destiny Stone". As he said this, both girls gave Tai a confusing look. "I'll explain later" Tai answered in response.

"Cody said he'd stay with TK if this happened…I should probably be there too" she said, drawing looks from the small group. "Angewomon will be more effective against Daemon then Silphymon will. That and Hawkmon can only digivolve to Champion; we'd be getting in the way. Besides, two people staying behind are less suspicious than one".

"Yolie…we'll need all the help we can get…but if you think that's the best thing you can do than I'm not going to argue" Tai said after he thought the situation over. "We need to get everyone together. I know it's in the middle of the day and we all have school, but we can't waste any time. Do either of you know where Davis and Cody are? I emailed them too; they should be here by now".

As soon as Tai finished his sentence, he heard the door open and watched as Cody walked in with Davis close behind him, as if on cue. "Hey guys" Davis greeted, not immediately noticing the poor mood of the room. "Tai! What are you doing-" Davis began, but stopped when he bumped into Cody, who had stopped after realizing something was wrong. "Um Davis…I don't think this is a social visit" Cody told Davis, reading the gloomy look on the groups face.

Davis looked to be confused for a moment, but finally noticed the same thing Cody had and immediately became serious. "What happened?"

"Seriously TK?" Matt asked as he watched his little brother take another glance at his D-terminal. "That's like the 100th time you've looked at that. She's in class right now; she probably isn't going to be emailing anyone in the middles of class" he said, trying to rationalize with his little brother.

"It's lunch time Matt, and she said we'd talk later" TK responded, not bothering to look up from the device in his hands. "Maybe I should just email her" he began to think out loud. "I mean, I email her first all the time; how is this any different?"

"OK that's it" Matt said, suddenly standing up. Before TK could figure out what Matt was doing, the older blonde had reached TK's side and snatched the small device out of his little brother's hands. "Hey!" TK exclaimed, outstretching his arm to try and reclaim the D-terminal. After his initial attempt failed, TK tried to rise out of his bed and continue his efforts, but stopped as he felt him overextending himself. TK grunted and slowly lowered himself back into his bed, pain apparent on his face. "Matt give it back" he managed to say, cradling his injured ribs as he did so.

"Take it easy TK, the doctors said you should try not to move" Matt said sarcastically as he sat back down in his chair. "Stop being so anxious; I'll give it back to you if you get anything, ok? Now lie down and relax?" he ordered, laughing as he watched TK did as he was told. Leaning his head back, TK stared at the ceiling with a blank expression, not sure how he was going to pass the time now that he couldn't constantly look at his D-terminal. "One of these days you won't be able to pull stuff like this anymore" he finally muttered.

"That's why I'm trying to do it as much as I can now" Matt answered with a smile. "And let's be honest, that day has probably come and gone already. So that just gives me added incentive to do it now". Picking up the television remote, Matt turned on the television and began to surf through the channels. Finally stopping on a random game show, Matt's mind began to drift to the sight he had seen earlier with TK and Kari, and what Tai would think about all of this. Although he was pretty sure that Tai wouldn't be angry, he knew Tai would never be excited about seeing his little sister begin to date. "So…do you want to talk about the…well it… now that you've had some time to think about it?" he asked, knowing he didn't have to specify what he was talking about.

TK turned to stare at Matt, a serious expression glued on his face. "Um…not really" he finally said, looking away as he did so.

"C'mon TK" Matt began after TK failed to say anything else, trying to encourage his little brother, "you know you want to talk about it".

"No, I don't Matt" TK began, still not looking at his brother. "I mean… this is Kari we're talking about…she's special…and I'm…just me" he said, finally giving into Matt's probing. "And she deserves the best…and one day she'll find him" he finished, a hint of depression in his voice as he said the last statement.

"And you want that to happen?" Matt asked, noticing TK's sudden change of tone. "You really want her to find someone else to be with? And you'd be happy with that?"

"As long as she's hap-"

"Don't give me that TK" Matt said, suddenly cutting off the younger blonde. "If that ever happened you'd be devastated. You can talk all you want about being happy as long as she is, but we both know the truth…Look, I don't want to sound harsh, but I have my reasons. And it's the same reason why you went after Daemon alone, and it's the same reason why you let him take you to the Dark Ocean. You know you'll never be happy unless your with Kari" Matt finished sternly, yet with a hint of kindness.

"…Do you have any advice?" TK managed to ask after several moments of silence, clearly affected by Matt's words.

"Well first off, stop selling yourself short TK" Matt began. "It's good to be humble, but stop thinking of yourself as just another average guy. Obviously there's something special about you; there always has been. And you're a great guy; everyone can see that, especially Kari. And if the two of you were together, I have no doubt that she would feel like the luckiest girl in the world" he told TK.

"So what should I do?" TK asked after letting Matt's words sink in. "I really care for her Matt, and I want to tell her just how much, but it doesn't seem right. I don't really think now would be a good time to bring this up to her. With everything going on…it's selfish of me to think of myself while all of this is going on… Right now, we all just need to focus on stopping Daemon from doing more damage than he already has".

"You're unbelievable" Matt muttered to himself. Matt continued to stare at his little brother, unsure of how he should respond to the young blonde's decision. Finally, he took a deep breath and said "I'm sure whatever you decide to do will be the right thing. If you really think you should wait to tell her how you feel then I'll back you up…even if I disagree with it…Just don't think you have all the time in the world to tell her".

The two brothers sat in silence as TK thought about what Matt had told him. Unable to find the right words to say, TK simply nodded his head and leaned back into the bed. "Get some rest TK. You need it" Matt advised as he realized that TK had said all he was going to.

The young blonde closed his eyes in response, and felt himself begin to drift off into sleep. After several moments, Matt saw that TK had fallen asleep in his bed. Realizing this, Matt leaned back into his chair and turned the volume of the TV to avoid disturbing TK.

Just as Matt was beginning to get comfortable, he heard his D-terminal go off in his pocket. Reaching into his pocket, Matt pulled out the device and opened it up to read the message. _**Matt, something bad happened. Daemon took the Sovereigns out of the picture.**_

Matt stopped after reading this and shot a look at TK. Realizing that the D-terminal had not disturbed his little brother's sleep, Matt turned back towards the message and continued reading. _**Daemon managed to master his powers already. He's going after the Destiny Stone soon. We're going into the Digital World soon to protect it. Cody and Yolie are heading to the hospital to stay with TK so you can come with us. Don't let TK know about this-Tai**_.

Matt took a deep breath and began to type a response, realizing the magnitude of what Tai had just told him. _**Email where to meet. Be there in 5-Matt**_. Standing up, Matt began to walk out of the hospital, but paused just before leaving. Turning around, Matt walked back to TK's bedside and placed his little brother's D-terminal on the nightstand next to the bed. "We'll get him TK. I promise".

"So what's the plan?" Matt asked as he saw the other Digidestined and their Digimon approach him and Gabumon. The only children missing from the group were TK, Yolie, Cody, and Mimi.

"We make sure Daemon doesn't get anywhere near the Destiny Stone" Tai answered plainly, pointing at a small lake that Matt had paid little attention to.

"The lake?" Matt asked, unsure if Tai were trying to make a joke or if he was being serious.

"Not exactly" Davis interrupted, stepping beside Tai. "It's actually the Chinese Soup Spring. It's a soup lake" he finished sarcastically. "The last time we were here was when BlackWarGreymon was trying to destroy all of the Destiny Stones. This was also the place where we first met Azulongmon…The Destiny Stone is hidden inside the lake. The only way to draw it out is to disturb the lake".

"You've got to be kidding me. The world's last bit of protection is hidden inside some soup" Matt said sarcastically. "This'll be interesting…So do we have any ideas how to do this?"

"A long shot. But it's the best idea I could think of" Izzy told him as he sat down close to the pond. "Basically we're going to try and make sure that Daemon can't see the lake and doesn't sense the Destiny Stone" he continued as he began to frantically type into his laptop.

Matt gave him a questioning look, but before he could ask the red-haired genius how he could do that, Sora approached him and took his hand. Leaning towards his ear so he could hear her, she said: "When Myotismon first came into the real world and started rounding up our parents, Izzy was able to avoid getting captured by using a program to cloak him and his family. Basically he's going to use the same idea and try doing the same thing with the Destiny Stone. Only this time it has to be stronger. A lot stronger. Strong enough to mask the Destiny Stone's power".

"Why does he need to do that? As long as he can't see the stone then Daemon will never be able to find it" Matt asked.

"BlackWarGreymon was able to find all of the Destiny Stones by sensing the power the stones gave off" Ken explained. "That's the only reasonable way he'd be able to find it. At least the only reasonable way we can think of…If we're able to cloak the stone's energy signal, then Daemon might not be able to find it. Ever".

"That doesn't exactly sound promising, but it's not like I have a better idea" Matt muttered. "So how long do you think until Daemon finds it?"

"No idea" Tai answered bluntly. "We're going to assume that Daemon is on his way here as we speak. Basically we're going to buy Izzy as much time as he needs to cloak the Destiny Stone from Daemon".

"Don't you think that's a little ambitious? We're talking about holding off the same guy who just beat the Sovereigns?" he said in disbelief.

"He also threw around WarGreymon and MegaKabuterimon afterwards" Joe commented, drawing a dirty look from Tai. Shrugging Tai's glare off, Joe turned to Matt, who was giving him a questioning look. "They can explain later" Joe said in response to Matt's stare.

Matt gave Tai a questioning look but decided to let it go as he turned away just as Kari approached him. "How's TK doing?" Kari asked softly. "He's not coming…is he?"

"No we're keeping him away from this battle. We're going to keep him safe Kari, I promise" he assured her with a small smile. Smiling softly, Kari tucked a strand of hair behind her ear in and turned away from Matt, beginning to walk towards Gatomon. Before she reached the cat-like Digimon, Kari turned back towards Matt and opened her mouth as if to ask him a question, but could not bring herself to say anything. Kari was about to try to speak again, but Matt cut her off before she could speak. "He misses you too" Matt told her reassuringly.

Kari was still at a loss of words after Matt had said this, but managed to say a quiet "thank you" before walking back to Gatomon. "So how long until you think you can have the cloak working?" Kari asked Izzy as she sat down with Gatomon.

"At least three hours…probably more" Izzy answered grimly as he continued to type on his computer. "And unfortunately…I'm still not sure if it'll even work…" he added.

"Exactly how confident are you that this will work?" Matt asked skeptically, unsure if he wanted to hear Izzy's answer.

"50-50…and believe me when I'm saying that I'm being _really _optimistic" Izzy admitted after an awkward pause.

"Well that's just great. We're putting the fate of every world into a plan that probably won't work. That's just awesome" Davis blurted out. His outburst drew dirty looks from each of the Digidestined, except for Izzy, who tried to bury his embarrassment with work. "Oh don't give me that look" Davis told everyone as he took a seat on the ground, trying to prepare himself for the inevitable battle. With his back towards the rest of the group, Davis tried to calm his nerves by taking several deep breaths. "And we're all thinking it; don't act like it's just me" he said as he grew silent.

**Unfortunately, this chapter took me a really long time to write. I knew what I wanted to put into it, but I just couldn't figure out how to write it. Sadly, I wrote this chapter about 4 different times. Hopefully it was worth it. If any of you are wondering about the "soup lake" reference, it's from Digimon Adventure 2, episode 36. As for the reference to the cloaking program, that was from the original Digimon adventure. I don't entirely remember which episode it was, but I think it was 34 or 35. On another note, I actually have started writing the next chapter, so it has to be posted quicker than this chapter. At least ideally it should be. Thank you to everyone for reading and please review. **


	20. Right Place

**So I'm just going to save the apology until after you read the chapter (barring that you'll want to read past the end of the chapter), along with my excuse this time. Hope you enjoy.**

The group nervously sat with their Digimon partners, the only noise coming from Izzy as he frantically continued to work on his computer. All of the Digidestined had been sitting for what seemed like days unsure of how to pass the time. Though many of the children had tried, no one in their group had managed to fall asleep since they had arrived. "I really don't like this" Davis mumbled, rising to his feet so that he could stretch, unable to take the awkward silence any longer. "I mean, I know we don't really have another alternative, but I really hate waiting for this. We should just go and face him on our own" he continued to rant. "Why don't we just get Ken to try and open a portal again and go after him in the Dark Ocean?"

"Because that would mean we'd be facing him at his strongest" Tai answered bluntly. "And when Izzy and I fought him last, it wasn't pretty. We'd just be putting ourselves in a worse position. We need to give ourselves as many advantages as we can get…so facing him in the Digital World is our best option. Besides, we couldn't get it open the last time so I doubt it'll work out any better this time".

Shaking his head in frustration, Davis returned to the ground next to Ken and mumbled "We're missing a pretty big advantage if you ask me".

"You know he doesn't need to be here" Ken quietly told Davis, as if trying to make sure no one else heard him. "Look, TK would just be an easy target if he was here. Do you really think you'd be able to look yourself in the mirror if he was here and something happened to him?"

"…No…I guess not" Davis admitted after putting some thought into the question. "I'm just frustrated about this whole thing. I mean…I've just never been the guy to sit around and wait for something horrible to happen".

"I know Davis" Ken said as he patted his friend on the shoulder. "Look we're all having a hard time dealing with this. Just relax; I'm sure we won't be waiting for much longer".

"Do you mind if I sit next to you?" Davis and Ken heard Kari ask. Both jumped when they heard her, not noticing that the young brunette had walked up to them as they had tried to have their private conversation. "Sorry, it's just that I don't really spend a whole lot of time with any of the older kids besides Tai, and he's keeps looking over Izzy's shoulder. And Yolie's not here so…" Kari trailed off, knowing how insecure she must've sounded at the moment.

"You're fine Kari" Ken said with a smile.

"Yeah take a load off" Davis said with mock enthusiasm, bringing a smile to Kari's face. "Finally, you look like you've been at a funeral since we left the hospital" he noted as Kari took a seat beside the two boys.

"Thanks…And yeah, it's been a rough couple of days. With everything that's happened with TK and Daemon…I feel like it's been two years, not two days" Kari answered with a small blush. "I…I just really wish he was here with us. It's a good thing he's not, but…"

"Don't worry Kari, we know" Ken told Kari kindly. "But he's safe right now and that's all that matters. And as long as we work together, I know Daemon doesn't stand a chance".

"…I know you don't really believe that" Kari replied quietly. "You were there the first time we fought. We didn't lose but…He's stronger now". Kari crossed her arms and began to hug herself, as if she were suddenly cold. "I know that it's really bad for me to say that but…I just feel hopeless right now".

The three teenagers sat silently after Kari had made her comment, unsure of what could possible make the situation any better. "Geez Kari," Davis finally said "when did you turn into such a pessimist?"

"**So what do you want" Yolie asked Cody as she began to put money into the vending machine.**The two were in the lobby of the hospital getting a few snacks, just a few feet away from TK's room.

"Just get me some chips" Cody told her, not really paying attention to the lavender-haired girl. "And I guess just get me a water to drink please".

"Gotcha" she replied with a nod. As she watched the items begin to dispense, she gave a sideways glance to Cody and said "Sooo… do you hate this as much as I do?" she asked, not needing to specifically say what she was referring to.

"Yeah I do; but you know why we're not with them. We don't need to leave TK alone right now. For all we know he'll find out what we're up to and try to fight. And besides, we'd just get in the way against someone as powerful as Daemon. It's better if we just sit this one out" Cody responded.

Shaking her head, Yolie reached into the vending machine and pulled the items out, handing Cody the water and a bag of chips. "Look I know that, and it makes sense but…, I just feel like we're making a mistake. Maybe…maybe TK should be out there fighting. Maybe we all should". Finally turning to look Cody in the eye, Yolie continued. "I'm scared Cody. What if they're not enough for this? What if they need us? …What if they need all of us?"

Cody kept his eye contact with Yolie for a few moments before finally looking away, unsure if his friend was right. "TK is our only responsibility right now…We have to trust that they'll be able to fight him without our help".

"TK didn't wait for someone or something to do what had to be done…He went after Daemon with only Patamon. He let Daemon take him captive to protect all of us" Yolie began, her voice seemingly getting stronger with every word. "You're right Cody; this is the smartest thing to do. Keeping TK safe is the best thing to do, but that would never stop him from doing what he thought was right…And maybe that's exactly what we need to do. Now isn't the time to be smart. Right now we need to do everything that we can to help our friends".

"Yolie…we promised we would keep him away from the battle" Cody responded, seemingly trying to convince himself just as much as he was trying to convince his friend.

"And being a Digidestined means sacrificing yourself to save everyone and everything. Maybe it's time we take that seriously" she said, walking up to Cody. "I feel terrible asking you to break your promise, but I can't sit here and wait while our friends are risking their lives."

Cody turned his head and took a long look towards TK's room, trying to decide to listen to his heart or to his mind. Returning his gaze back towards Yolie, Cody took a few deep breaths and said "Alright, I'm in. We can sneak into someone's office and use their computer to get to the Digital World. Armadillomon and Hawkmon are already here so we can leave as soon as we tell a nurse to keep an eye on TK. And whatever we do, we cannot let him know what's going on. We can't tell TK".

As Cody was saying this, Yolie began to smile as she heard his words, glad that she was able to convince the younger-yet-much-wiser boy to fight. However, in her excitement as she listened to Cody's speech, both of the children failed to hear the soft footsteps that approached them from behind. "Can't tell me what?" TK asked with a confused look on his face.

"**How are we looking?" Tai asked Izzy, kneeling down so he could get a good look at the screen.**

"Um…it's compiling right now. Once it's finished I can know whether or not it's working. Until then though…" Izzy trailed off before we could finish his sentence, not wanting to admit that he had no idea if he had done the program properly.

Tai shook his head, clearly frustrated at Izzy's answer. However, the young man refused to let himself express his frustrations verbally because he knew that it wouldn't help anything. "I'm sorry Tai, but this isn't like the first time I used this program. The energy that the Destiny Stone is giving off is huge, and this program wasn't built to hide something like that. Theoretically it should work, but…well you know Murphy's Law". Izzy looked up at Tai after a few moments of silence and noticed the brunette and a confused look on his face. "Murphy's Law?" Tai asked, not wanting to admit how confused he was.

Izzy couldn't help but chuckle as Tai asked this, lamenting at the fact that even though this was possibly the most stressful moment of all the Digidestined's lives, he still had to teach them something new. "Murphy's Law is pretty simple Tai: What can go wrong, will go wrong".

Nodding his head and smiling, Tai took a seat beside his friend and looked at the screen once more. Taking notice of the progress bar that was displayed, Tai asked "Thirty-seven percent, huh? So how much longer will it take to finish?"

"It's hard to say" Izzy answered with a sigh. "The processing rate keeps changing, but if I had to guess I would think we'd be sitting here at least another forty-five minutes or so".

"Cool, just keep me posted. And you're doing a great job Izzy. I mean it" the taller boy said before rising to his feet. As he began to walk back to the others, an all-too-familiar beeping caught his attention. Turning around, he saw that Izzy had begun breathing very heavily and his were open wide. He seemed frozen in place. His computer was alerting him that a portal was beginning to open, meaning Daemon would be there any minute.

"Guys! He's coming!" Tai yelled to the other Digidestined, making each one of them jump from the sudden disturbance in silence. It took less than a second for each child to realize what Tai had meant, and in seconds each one of them were on their feet with their Digimon, preparing for the upcoming battle. "Izzy, where's he coming from?" he asked, kneeling at Izzy's side.

"Give it a second, you'll see". As soon as those words left Izzy's mouth, a large portal began to open less than 30 yards away. The portal started out as a small sphere, almost the size of a fist, and was converged in dark, red flames. It gave off a small sound that reminded the children of a small roar. However, with each second, the portal grew in size to the point where it could fit a large Digimon through. As it did so, the noise continued to get louder and louder, until all of the children were covering their ears to try and ease the ringing in their ears.

Suddenly, the roaring noise stopped and the sphere remained still, leaving the flickering flames as the only noise. The children held their breath, not knowing what to do or expect. Finally, an eerie outline began to appear inside the sphere. In a few moments, all the children could see the outline of the last Digimon any of them had wanted to see: Daemon.

Panting, Tai rose back to his feet and stared at the portal, waiting for the evil Digimon to appear. "Murphy's Law, right Izzy?"

"Yeah, they just need to add one more line" Izzy answered as he looked back down at his computer. The program was only 50% done. "What can go wrong, will go wrong. At the worst possible time…We still have at least thirty minutes until I can get this thing running".

Taking a deep breath, Tai went to go stand with the rest of the Digidestined, but not before saying: "Yeah, we should really add that 'worst-possible-time' line to that law". As he reached the remaining Digidestined, Tai raised his voice and said "We need to buy Izzy as much time as we can. Remember, we have to keep him as far away from the Destiny Stone as humanly possible. Now everyone, digivolve and get ready!"

"**Can't tell me what?" Both Yolie and Cody jumped when they heard TK ask the question, quickly realizing the crucial mistake that they had just made.** "TK! What…what are you doing up. You know you should be bed right now" Yolie stammered.

"Well I woke up and no was around" TK said with a painful grunt as he eased his way into a seat next to Cody, carefully caressing his injured ribs the entire time. "Where is everyone? Last thing I remember was Kari and I waking up and-…Uh…never mind" he abruptly said, not wanting to let anyone know what had happened between him and Kari.

Unbeknownst to TK, Yolie already knew of the event that TK had inadvertently referred to, and couldn't help but smirk as TK began to blush when he realized what he was about to say. She quickly realized though that TK would want to know what she and Cody were hiding from him and did her best to come up with a believable lie.

"TK, trust us, it would be better if you didn't know" Cody said after a moment, cutting off Yolie's train of thought.

"What are you talking about?" TK asked, doing his best to get comfortable in his seat. Finally managing to get himself into a manageable position, he turned his gaze to Cody and asked "Are y'all making a battle plan without me or something? Look, I know I'm a little hurt right now, but it's not a good idea to go against Daemon without me" he began, stopping to take a deep, painful breath. "MagnaAngemon might be the best option we have against him. I know he's stronger now, but that doesn't change the fact that MagnaAngemon is stronger against evil Digimon".

"TK, Cody is right. We're trying to protect you. And you need to let us do that…" Yolie started. "So maybe you should just…you know…go back to bed"

"Why are you even talking about this right now?" TK asked with another painful breath, leaning back into the chair as he did so. "It'd be insane if we tried to fight Daemon right now. It's barely been a day since Kari and I last saw him, and he still has to go try and defeat the Sovereigns destroy the Destiny Sto-…Wait… He hasn't…hasn't…attacked already has he? Is that what you're trying to hide from me?"

Cody and Yolie exchanged an awkward glance, not sure what they should do. Both of the children knew that nothing they said could keep TK from finding the truth, yet they desperately tried to think of some way to convince him to leave the matter alone. "TK…I'm begging you, drop it. If you're not going to do it for us, or even your brother, then do it for Kari. She doesn't want to see you get hurt any more than you are already; none of us do" Yolie began to plead. "If anything happens to you, it'll be on all of our heads. Please TK, just trust us".

TK gave a long stare at Yolie, as if trying to decide what the best course of action should be. For a brief moment, Yolie thought that TK might let the matter go as his frown on his face began to fade and his expression softened. "If it means that much to all of you, then I guess we can talk about it later" TK finally said. "And I know you're right. It's probably not a good idea for me to run into a fight while I'm…I'm…hurt. And you guys are keeping an eye on me…" he began to say slowly, as if he were starting to piece something together. Noticing this, Yolie and Cody shot another nervous glance at each other, realizing TK was about to figure out what was happening. Turning to look at Cody, TK asked "Where are the others?" with a deep breath. "Cody, where's everyone else?"

When Cody failed to answer TK the second time, TK turned his head towards Yolie and, raising his voice, asked "Yolie, tell me right now: where are the others?"

"TK, just stay calm" she began, taking a deep breath. "Everyone thought it'd be best if you stayed here while everyone else went to go fight Daemon. He's…he's already fought and defeated the Sovereigns…Tai and Izzy tried to take them on alone, but it didn't work out very well. In fact, it was kind of a slaughter. The others are in the Digital World getting ready to fight him and protect the Destiny Stone".

It took a moment for TK to fully process what Yolie had told him, as if he couldn't bring himself to believe what he had just heard. "How long have they been there?" he asked slowly.

"Two, maybe three hours" she answered, thankful that he was managing to stay calm. When TK heard her answer, he slowly nodded his head and said "Good, hopefully that means Daemon hasn't gotten to them yet. If we hurry, we can get there in time to help them before the fight starts". With a grunt, TK painfully rose to his feet and began to slowly walk away when he felt Cody grab him sternly by the arm.

"What do you think you're doing TK? You're not in any shape to go battle an evil Digimon right now; you have to lay down and rest" Cody insisted. "We promised the others that we were going to keep you out of this, so you're not going anywhere near that fight".

TK stared at the younger boy for several moments, making Cody begin to nervously breathe. "Cody, I know you made a promise to the others, but this isn't your decision to make". Placing a hand on his friend's shoulder and turning his head so he could look at both Digidestined, TK said "This isn't right. I don't belong in a hospital bed when the fate of the world is at stake. I'm supposed to be at my friend's sides, protecting everyone and everything that I love...That's where all of us are supposed to be. I know you guys feel the same way about this whole situation, so please, help me help our friends before it's too late".

Cody had difficulty looking at TK as he pleaded with them, torn between protecting his friend and the responsibility he had as a Digidestined. "Cody?" he heard Yolie ask, causing him to turn his gaze towards her. "You know what we all have to do…including TK. Come on, let's help him get to the Digital World".

Nodding his head, Cody finally turned to look at TK and said "There are offices all over this hospital; we can use one of those to get to the Digital World. I still remember where the Destiny Stone is at, so we shouldn't have any problems getting there". TK smiled as he heard Cody begin to make plans, and released his grip form the younger boy's shoulder. "Are our Digimon close?" TK asked. He began to walk away from Cody, but stopped as he felt the strain he was putting on his ribs.

Panting heavily and crouching over so that he could breathe easier, TK extended his hand and found a nearby wall to lean on for support. "Yeah, we're hiding the Digimon near the cafeteria" TK heard Cody respond before the younger boy walked over to him. Taking TK's free arm and slinging it on his shoulder, Cody helped TK off the wall and continued "I'll help you walk, just try to control you're breathing. And when we get the fight, try to stay out of harm's way". With that, the group began to walk as quickly as they could without hurting TK in the direction of the medical offices.

"Oh, and TK?" Yolie asked as they paced their way through the hospital. "Do us a favor and make sure you're between us and Kari, ok?"

**So I know I've been saying this for every chapter for the last "X" amount of times, but I'm REALLY sorry about this late update. I actually have several excuses this time, one being that I actually wrote this chapter about 4 or 5 different times. I didn't really like how it was coming out, so I scraped it several times. In fact, what you just read I worked on for about a month and a half. That and if you haven't noticed, school started and I'm actually in the midst of my second set of exams (the joys). Now, several of you may be thinking 'Why wouldn't you try and get this knocked out in the summer?' Well the truth is several things happened in my personal life during the summer, and for a long time my heart wasn't really into anything, including this story. Unfortunately, I spend several nights not sleeping because I was in kind of a depressed state. However, I've managed to work my way through some of it and I felt good enough to start writing again, so that's good. Anyways, if you've read this far, hopefully that means none of you are completely angry with my absence and enjoyed the chapter. Just a quick FYI, we're quickly (hopefully) approaching the end of this story so expect a decent amount of excitement coming up. Please let me know what you thought of all this and leave a review. Thanks.**

**P.S. I had someone ask a few questions, and I forget who so please forgive me. 1) Yes, Mimi is stuck in America for the remainder of this story, so sorry to any of the Mimi fans out there. 2) I actually think chromate mentioned this, but I actually have no idea how to separate the scenes with long dash lines. I've tried it before, but when it uploads it seems to magically disappear. If any of you want to show me how to do this, feel free to in a PM or something. 3) Seriously, sorry to everyone who asked me to update soon. As stated before, I just couldn't bring myself write. Hopefully I won't leave you waiting that long again.**


	21. Wrath

**So the good news is that I managed to bust out a really long chapter for everyone, so hopefully it was worth the wait. If memory serves me right, this has easily been the longest chapter of the story (but I could be wrong). I'll talk a little more after the story if you feel like hearing my excuse this time (I promise it's a legitimate one), so please read the chapter and enjoy!**

**Disclaimer:**** I do not own Digimon ('depressed sigh')**

The Digidestined silently watched as the portal opened and Daemon's dark figure began to form. Each of their partners had digivolved to their most powerful forms and stood at the children's side. The only member of their group missing was Izzy, who was watching the progress on his computer screen, praying that this would work.

"Guys, whatever happens, we have to keep Daemon away from Izzy" Tai told the rest of the group. "If anything happens to that computer while it is still working then it's all over. And watch each other's backs. It might be the only way we'll get out of this in one piece".

Tai took a moment to look behind him and see the small army he had gathered behind him. Easily the largest of them was Garudamon, Biyomon's ultimate form. The giant, bird Digimon had large, yellow talons on her feet and hands that looked like they could shred through anything. The rest of her body was covered in reddish-brown feathers that did little to cover the Digimon's muscular physique, and she had two large wings protruding from her back. The wings were accented with yellow feathers at the end.

Next to her stood Zudomon, who looked just as intimidating Garudamon. Gomamon's ultimate form, the sea-animal Digimon had grey skin, and his paws were covered with orange fur. On his back sat a large, green shell that had three spikes protruding from it. Zudmon's eyes were surrounded by the same orange fur that covered his paws, and a large spike came out of his forehead. In his right hand, Zudomon carried a large, heavy, metal hammer.

Standing beside Kari was Angewoman, Gatomon's ultimate form. Resembling a majestic angel, Angewoman was garbed in white with the exception of a long, pink ribbon that laid across her shoulders. She had 8 snow-white wings attached to her back, and long, golden-blonde hair. Like Angemon, Angewoman wore a helmet that covered her eyes, giving her the look of a blind prophet. The rest of the Digimon that made up their group was Imperialdramon in his fighter- mode, MetalGarurumon, WarGreymon, and MegaKabuterimon.

Tai turned his attention back to the portal as he heard Daemon's evil laughter get louder and louder. Taking a deep breath, Tai turned to WarGreymon and asked "Are you sure you're ready?"

The armor-clad, dinosaur Digimon didn't bother to look at Tai as all of his attention was turned to the portal, but did respond by saying "No one has ever stopped us when we work together. There's no way he's going to beat us this time". The show of confidence from WarGreymon brought a smile to Tai, though he suspected his partner was only trying to put Tai at ease.

A few moments later, Daemon walked out of the portal, having stopped laughing as he realized that the Digidestined intended to make their final stand there. "Where's the rest of you?" Daemon asked. "Surely you don't expect to stop me without them. That is INSULTING!" Tai and the rest of the Digidestined couldn't help themselves but flinch at Daemon as he said the last word with such a strong voice. Seeing this, Daemon began to take slow, deliberate steps forward, each step causing a loud, thunderous sound. "So obviously the Destiny Stone is here. Would you like to surrender or do you wish to try and stop me?"

"Daemon listen to me!" Sora yelled at the evil Digimon. "What you're doing isn't going to benefit anyone. If you destroy the Destiny Stone then all of the worlds will collapse on each other. There won't be anything left to rule! Is that what you really want?"

Daemon simply laughed at Sora's attempt to reason with him. "Girl, nothing is going to stop The Omega, not even the great Digidestined" he told the group mockingly. "I've had enough of your pestering. Now, I WILL END YOU!" Daemon finished, charging at the group as he did so.

* * *

><p><strong>Yolie continued to struggle as she tried to help TK get to Dr. Kido's office<strong>. The blonde boy had one arm wrapped around Yolie's shoulder for support and was painfully breathing with every step that they took. Cody had previously split up with the pair in order to get their Digimon, telling them that'd he would meet up with them shortly.

"C'mon TK. His office is just around the corner" Yolie told a hobbling TK, trying to raise TK's morale as well as her own. TK grunted in response to her, doing his best to exert as little energy as possible.

True to her words, Yolie found herself in front of a door labeled "Dr. Kido" a few moments later. With unspoken consent, Yolie helped lean TK on the wall next to the door so that she could open the door. After making sure that he was properly situated, she turned to the door and turned the knob, intending to open it. However, as she did this, she realized that the door had been locked, preventing her and TK from entering. "No! You've got to be kidding me! You have got to be kidding me!" she yelled in frustration at the door, slapping it with the palm of her hand. "TK, the door's locked we have to find another computer" she spat out as she turned back to help TK up.

"We don't have time for that" TK bluntly said as he managed to get to a standing position on his own. TK ignored the questioning look Yolie gave him and walked towards the door, taking a deep breath as he did so. Closing his eyes, TK braced himself for what he was sure would be a painful impact, and rammed his shoulder into the door, drawing a loud, painful gasp from him.

"TK! What are you trying to do?! You have to stop that right now; you're going to hurt yourself!" Yolie exclaimed as TK hunched over in pain, though he managed to stay on his feet by leaning on the door. Jumping to his side, Yolie tried to pull him away from the door but stopped as she heard TK say "We don't have time to find another computer…Now step back".

Taking a few steps backwards, TK put all of his weight into his shoulder and slammed it into the door again. The force TK hit the door with was enough to break the lock and swing the door open, but TK could not gain enough control of himself to prevent falling on his injured ribs in the office. "Oh my god, TK!" Yolie gasped as she saw TK fall on the ground and wither in pain. Running to his side, Yolie helped TK to the desk and leaned him on it.

TK gasped as Yolie touched the injured ribs, drawing a concerned look from Yolie. "TK, you can't do this. You have to start being smart about this; you're going to get yourself killed!"

"Just get the portal open" TK panted as he tried to catch his breath, not wanting to a lecture from her. Yolie didn't move as TK started to painfully cough, though he managed to stop after a few moments. "Look Yolie, I know that you're worried about me doing something stupid, and quite frankly you're right. But…it's Kari…if something happens to her and it's my fault then I could nev-"

"I know about you and Kari, TK" she quickly said, cutting the blonde off. TK gave Yolie a surprised glance, unsure of how he felt about the lavender haired girl knowing about his feelings. "Kari told me the two of you almost kissed yesterday, and that she was falling for you. And I get that you don't want to see anything happen to her, but that goes for her too. TK, she can't handle knowing you died trying to protect her. So stop it. Or else we'll lose both of you…one way or the other".

Yolie didn't wait for TK to respond, letting him ponder her words as he leaned against the desk. She immediately ran to the other side of the room and began to frantically type on the keyboard, doing her best to open a portal to the Digital World in a timely manner. "OK, I got it" Yolie said after a few moments. Raising her digivice, the lavender-haired girl pointed it at the monitor and said "Digiport Open!" Immediately, a white light engulfed the room just as Cody and the Digimon arrived at the office.

"Good," Cody panted as he realized that the portal was open, "now let's go help our friends".

"Yeah" Yolie said as she snuck a glance at TK. "But let's be smart about it" she whispered quietly.

* * *

><p><strong>WarGreymon immediately jumped in between the children and Daemon, raising his arm braces to defend himself.<strong> As the two Digimon clashed, WarGreymon dug his feet into the ground, doing his best to prevent himself from falling over as Daemon pushed him back. Managing to stop himself before hitting the children, WarGreymon shoved the evil Digimon back, creating some distance between the two.

"Get back!" he yelled to Tai and the others. WarGreymon immediately began to spin, appearing as a large, orange blur after a few seconds. "Great Tornado!" he yelled, propelling himself towards Daemon.

The evil Digimon saw the attack coming and easily dodged WarGreymon, stepping to his right before charging back at the others. In response, all the other Digimon jumped towards Daemon, prepared to attack him at their first opportunity. "Vulcan's Hammer!" Zudomon exclaimed, slamming his hammer into the ground. As he did this, a beam of light shot straight towards Daemon, the attack glancing off his shoulder.

Zudomon's attack seemingly did little damage to Daemon, as he did not lose any speed as he kept advancing towards the Digidestined. Finally reaching the sea animal Digimon, Zudomon raised his massive hammer, intending to strike Daemon before he could advance any further. The demon Digimon managed to side-step the strike and easily avoided Zudomon. As he passed by him, Daemon managed to get a quick, powerful punch to land on Zudomon, sending the large Digimon flying backwards into several nearby trees.

Immediately after he had attacked Zudomon, Daemon was forced to stop his forward progress as he saw that he was face to face with Garudamon and MetalGarurumon. Without hesitation, Daemon jumped and spread his wings, intending to fly over Garudamon and avoid the giant bird Digimon altogether. Garudamon instantly saw this and raised her right fist, just as it burst into flames. "Crimson Claw!" she yelled as she swung her fist, intending to knock the smaller Digimon back to the ground. Spiraling to the side, Daemon felt the wind of Garudamon's attack as it missed him, and responded by hitting an uppercut on the much larger Digimon. The force of the punch was more than enough to knock Garudamon off her feet and landed hard on her back, letting out a startled cry as she landed.

While he was occupied by Garudamon, MetalGarurumon managed to sneak around to Daemon's side and attacked him while his attention was diverted. Pouncing on his opponent, MetalGarurumon easily clamped his jaw down on Daemon's right arm and managed to throw him off of his course.

The attack from MetalGarurumon caught Daemon by surprise, letting out a frustrated groan as he was violently thrown to the ground. When he hit the ground he did his best to regain his balance, but couldn't stop himself from rolling several more feet before he finally came to a stop. Taking a second to compose himself, Daemon began to rise back to his feet, intending to thoroughly punish MetalGarurumon, but was once again knocked off of his feet as he heard "Horn Buster!" and was rammed in the side by MegaKabuterimon.

Before he had a chance to respond to the attack, MegaKabuterimon broke off from his attack, just as Daemon began reaching for the ultimate-level Digimon. "Have you had enough yet?" the insect-like Digimon asked, taunting his more powerful foe from a safe distance.

"Your efforts are futile!" Daemon responded in frustration, preparing to jump at his opponent. Before he could do so, he heard something behind him begin to hum and turned around just in time to see Imperialdramon pointing his arm-cannon at him. "Futile? Well try this on for size! Positron Laser!" Only a few feet separated the two Digimon, so Daemon was unable to prepare himself for Imperialdramon's attack and took the full force of the laser. Unable to withstand the full force of the attack, Daemon began to stumble backwards, seemingly confused as to what had just happened. As he continued to recover, he failed to notice Angewoman float in front of him and pull her arm back. Suddenly, an arrow of light formed in her hand and was pointed at an unaware Daemon. "Celestial Arrow!" she yelled as she released the arrow and watched as it shot through the air, hitting Daemon directly on the chest.

"ARGH!" the evil Digimon exclaimed, feeling the full effects of Angewomon's attack. Taking a few more steps backwards, Daemon fell to his knees and was holding his chest, seemingly in great pain. "Did…did we do it?" a nervous Kari asked as the battlefield suddenly became silent. In response, Angewoman hovered down and settled in front of Daemon as if to check on him. As she neared, she began to hear a faint laughter followed by "No…you only made things worse". At that, Daemon surprised all of the children by quickly snatching Angewoman by the neck and lifted her up, extending his wings as he did so and rising up. "You fools really think you have a chance against me? YOU ARE ALL SCUM!" he proclaimed, increasing the pressure around Angewomon's throat, causing her to gargle in pain.

The rest of the Digimon quickly jumped into action as the saw this, though none of them wanted to use their special attacks out of fear Daemon would use Angewoman as a shield. WarGreymon was the first to reach Daemon, and did his best to dive into Daemon claws first. Easily dodging his first jab, Daemon used his free arm to grab WarGreymon's left shoulder, and flung him towards the ground, almost hitting Imperialdramon and MetalGarurumon in the process.

After avoiding their friend, MetalGarurumon and Imperialdramon attempted to converge on Daemon at the same time, giving him no escape routes. MetalGarurumon tried to attack Daemon in the same manner that he had earlier and tried to bite his free arm, but was stopped as a fireball suddenly erupted from Daemon's hand and hit him, sending him hurtling towards the ground. As this happened, Imperialdramon did his best to punch Daemon from behind, but found himself punching air as the evil Digimon had easily deduced what Imperialdramon was trying to do. With Imperialdramon's momentum taking him forward, Daemon quickly grabbed the dragon Digimon's tail and vertically spun him around before slamming him into the ground next to MetalGarurumon, drawing a painful groan from Imperialdramon.

"Wing Blade!" Garudamon exclaimed, her body suddenly engulfed by fire. When she finished yelling her attack, the flames leapt from her body in the shape of a bird and headed straight at Daemon. Spiraling forward, Daemon burst through Garudamon's attack without hesitation, the flames seemingly having no effect. Nearing Garudamon, he swung the fist that was wrapped around Angewoman's throat and punched Garudamon across her beak. As she fell back towards the ground, Daemon finally released his hold on Angewoman's throat by throwing her at Garudamon with great force. Both of the heroines cried out in pain as they landed.

"Horn Buster!" MegaKabuterimon attacked from behind, managing to hit the evil Digimon before he could react. Intending to ram him into the ground, MegaKabuterimon activated his thrusters in order to gain speed, but suddenly found himself being thrown over Daemon's head and landed on his back with a large thud, destroying several trees in the process.

Daemon allowed himself to land on the ground and turned to see Zudomon charging towards him with a raised hammer. Zudomon could hear Daemon laugh as he quickly approached him, but continued as he yelled "Vulcan's Hammer!,", swinging his hammer towards Daemon's head.

Preparing for the attack, Daemon grabbed Zudomon's wrist and held it firmly in place, shocking everyone on the battlefield at the sudden display of strength. Zudomon's arm was visibly shaking as he attempted to overpower Daemon, and raised his other fist to attack him in order to cause a distraction. Similar to what he had just done, Daemon halted Zudomon's second attack with his free arm, holding the Digimon firmly in place. Daemon laughed as he watched his opponent continue to struggle to overpower him, and began to squeeze Zudomon's wrist, causing the sea animal Digimon to groan in great pain.

"Zudomon!" Joe called out in concern as he began to run towards his friend. "Get away from him or I'l-"

"Joe, no!" Matt said as he grabbed his arm, preventing Joe from getting near the action. "If you get anywhere in the middle of that than you're done for". Despite his warning, Joe continued to try and break free from Matt's hold, but was unable to do so.

The continued stress on Zudomon's wrist soon became too much for him to handle, causing him to fall on his knees and release the grip he had on his hammer, allowing it to hit the ground with s loud ringing. Noticing Zudomon's weakened state, Daemon released his opponent and watched amusingly as he remained on his knees.

Bending over, Daemon picked up Zudomon's mighty hammer and took a long, hard look at his inferior opponent. Without warning, Daemon swung the hammer and hit Zudomon on the chin, sending him flying backwards with a cry of pain. He landed with a loud crash several yards away, tearing up the ground in the process.

Daemon amusingly watched as Zudomon did his best to rise to his feet, and began to walk towards the sea animal Digimon as he failed to get to his feet. Before he could reach Zudomon though, WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon jumped in front of him and halted his progress.

"Don't take another step!" MetalGarurumon barked as Daemon stopped a few feet away from the pair. Raising Zudomon's hammer and pointing it at the two, Daemon responded by saying "This is your last warning. You know you can't stop me from taking what I want, so why even bother? Get out of my way!"

"Not a chance!" responded WarGreymon. Jumping into the air, the dinosaur-like Digimon brought both his arms back and began forming a giant sphere of energy in his palms. "Terra Force!" he exclaimed, throwing the sphere of energy at Daemon. "Metal Wolf Claw!" WarGarurumon attacked simultaneously with WarGreymon, sending out a freezing wave of energy from his mouth. His attack converged on Daemon at the same time as WarGreymon's.

Both of the attacks hit Daemon, causing him to stumble backwards, though he didn't receive any excessive damage. Regaining his composure, he stood straight up and stared down both of his opponents. "Go ahead" he challenged, making up the ground he lost when he took the attacks. "Digivolve…See if you can stop me!"

"Alright, you asked for it!" WarGreymon exclaimed as his and MetalGarurumon's entire body began to glow.

"WarGreymon….MetalGarurumon….DNA Digivolve to…Omnimon!" As soon as WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon combined into one, Omnimon jumped into the air and slammed into Daemon, pushing the evil Digimon backwards.

Pushing the armored, white Digimon off of him, Daemon charged forward and began to throw powerful punches at him while also attacking him with Zudomon's hammer. Omnimon was able to block or evade all of Daemon's first few blows, but Daemon's speed proved too much for him as he found himself being hit several times. Staggering backwards, Daemon attempted to continue his assault by putting more power into his attacks, trying to knock Omnimon into the ground.

"Transcendent Sword" Omnimon exclaimed as he managed to summon a sword from his arm with WarGreymon's armor. Slashing horizontally, he managed to create some distance between him and Daemon, momentarily giving him some breathing room.

Trying to take advantage of the distance between the two Digimon, Omnimon raised his other arm to reveal a cannon that came out of MetalGarurumon arm. "Supreme Cannon!" he attacked, sending out a powerful blast at Daemon. Seeing that attack coming, Daemon deflected Omnimon's attack by hitting it with Zudomon's hammer, redirecting to the ground.

Both Digimon jumped at each other, intending to attack one another at close range with their respective weapons. As the two powerful Digimon engaged in combat, the rest of the Digimon managed to get to their feet and surround Daemon without him noticing. Although Daemon didn't notice his opponents surrounding him, Omnimon managed to divert his attention enough to see what his partners were doing. Knowing that he had to get Zudomon's hammer out of Daemon's hand, Omnimon tried to surprise the evil Digimon by hitting him with his knee while the two were locked up in combat.

Omnimon's attack worked, and he managed to stun Daemon long enough to swing his sword at Daemon's hand, knocking the hammer out of his grip and towards Zudomon. "Omnimon!" Garudamon yelled as soon as Zudomon had retrieved his weapon. "Get back, we'll attack him together!"

Jumping backwards, Omnimon joined his friends in encircling Daemon and raised his left arm in preparation to attack. "Supreme Cannon!"

"Positron Laser!"

"Wing Blade!"

"Horn Buster!"

"Vulcan's Hammer!"

"Celestial Arrow!"

All of the attacks converged onto Daemon at the same time, giving the evil Digimon no room to escape. The ensuing explosion caused the Digidestined to cover their eyes to protect themselves from the intensity of the blast; even the Digimon were pushed backwards from the force of the blast. After several moments, the children finally managed to raise their eyes and looked at what happened and were shocked at the sight.

Somehow, Daemon had managed to create an orb of fire around him, protecting him from receiving any damage. As his opponents stared at him in fear, the flames surrounding Daemon slowly began to fade and become transparent, and they heard his evil laughter increase in volume as he did so. "Time to end this" he barked out as he finally stopped laughing. "Evil Inferno!" he exclaimed, slamming an enclosed fist into the ground. As he did this, a wave of fire erupted from the ground and leapt towards the children.

Instinctively, each Digimon jumped in front of their respective partners, doing their best to defend their friends with their bodies. With the exception of Garudamon, each Digimon managed to reach their partners and cover them up as best they could. Being the largest of the Digimon, Garudamon remained in front of the entire group and used her entire body to shield the children and their partners, consequently taking the brunt of the attack.

"ARRGGHH!" Garudamon cried in pain as the attack connected, instantly draining her strength and power. Even with Garudamon's large mass, the attack seeped through and hit the rest of the Digimon, viciously knocking them to the ground and seemingly knocking each of them unconscious, though none of them reverted back to their weaker forms.

"Angewomon!" Kari exclaimed, running to her partner's side to check on her. Around her, the rest of the children were doing the same with their partners, though this went unnoticed by each of them as they were each focused on one thing. "Angewoman!? Can you hear me? Say something?" Kari cried out, desperate to hear that she was going to be alright.

Kari's attention was so focused on her partner that she didn't feel the dark presence that descended behind her or the shadow that grew larger with each second. "Kari…" she heard Angewoman whisper, momentary relief beginning to run through her. "…run…" the angelic Digimon managed to gasp as she continued to lose strength.

Kari gave a confused look at Angewoman, unsure of what her partner was trying to tell her until she once more heard Daemon's evil laughter. Snapping around, she couldn't help but scream and fall backwards as she came face-to-face with Daemon. Desperately trying to get away from him, Kari began to crawl backwards while trying to regain her footing. Managing to do that, Kari turned and began to run as fast she could away from Daemon, but was suddenly grabbed by her hair and dragged back towards him by Daemon's claws hand.

"OWW! NO! LET ME GO!" she frantically screamed, trying to kick Daemon even though she knew it wouldn't accomplish anything. "AHHH! TAI, HELP ME!" she continued to scream as her efforts continuously failed and he lifted her up to his eye level.

"KARI!" Tai cried out, trying to run to her help. "Omnimon!" he called out, trying to call his partner to action. However, the powerful Digimon was still seemingly unconscious and didn't move at Tai as Tai pleaded for his help. "Kari I'm coming!" he yelled, running to his sister's aid without the help of his friends. Before he could reach her though, a ring of fire appeared out of nowhere and surround Kari and Daemon, stopping anyone else from entering. The sudden appearance of the flames surprised so much that he was knocked backwards and hit the ground. "KARI, NO! LEAVE HER ALONE DAEMON!" he yelled at the top of his lungs, doing anything he could think of to stop the evil Digimon from hurting his sister.

Daemon laughed at Tai's attempts to rescue Kari before turning his attention back to the young brunette. Still painfully holding her by the hair, he whispered "You will be first because without you, he is nothing…" Kari stared back at Daemon with great fear, realizing that Daemon was finally going to kill them. As she watched in fear, a dark spear began to digitize and form in Daemon's free hand, causing Kari to increase her efforts as much as she could. "No…please no…" she began to plead, not knowing what else to do. "Don't worry; the rest of them will soon join you" he responded as he raised the spear.

As he thrust the spear towards the helpless brunette, he caught a glimpse of a purple sword before it hit the arm that was holding Kari and he was knocked down by an unseen opponent. The force of the impact freed Kari from Daemon's grasp, and she felt a set of hands grab her by the shoulders and begin to help her get away from the demon Digimon. Although she was slightly disoriented from her most recent ordeal, she cleared her head enough to look behind her and she what had happened: MagnaAngemon had tackled Daemon to the ground before he could kill her.

Realizing what the majestic Digimon's presence meant, she looked toward the person who was helping her run and found herself staring into TK's eyes. "TK!? What are you doing here? Why aren't you at the hospital?" she demanded, all the concern for her life suddenly gone as she realized TK had once again put himself in harm's way for her.

"We can't beat him unless we're all together" he answered bluntly as he did his best to ignore the pain in his ribs, moving as fast as he could. "And I don't mean to be rude, but please don't argue about this; it's not like I'm going anywhere" he added, doing his best not to sound like a jerk.

"Where…where is Yolie?" she asked, still not believing that TK would do something so stupid.

"Don't be mad. Please don't me mad" Yolie stammered as she suddenly appeared from behind as she ran up to TK's side and wrapped an arm around him for support. "Him and Cody were REALLY convincing" she continued as the three ran for coverage.

Continuing to run, Kari turned her attention to where her brother and the remaining Digidestined were and saw Cody checking on each of their friends. She was about to respond to Yolie, but stopped as she felt TK grab her hand and say "Nothing is going to stop me from finishing this with all of you Kari".

As they finally managed to create a reasonable distance between them and Daemon, Kari stopped and gave Yolie a frustrated look before turning her attention back to TK. "You promised me you wouldn't get yourself killed for me" she said in a stern voice. Although he could tell she wasn't trying to threaten him, TK knew that Kari was serious as she continued. "I…none of us want to lose you TK".

"Nothing is going to happen to me Kari" TK responded, doing his best to sound as confident as possible. "We're going to end this and take Daemon down".

"Guys!" they small group heard someone yell to them, and turned to see Izzy running towards them. "TK! Yolie! That was perfect timing! It worked! I cloaked it!"

* * *

><p>"I've defeated all of your friends MagnaAngemon. Surely you don't believe you alone can stop me" Daemon mocked as he and the angelic Digimon stared at each other while circling each other. In response, MagnaAngemon silently charged at Daemon trying to slash him with Excalibur and distract him from the two Digimon that were closing in behind him.<p>

"Horn Blasts!" Aquilamon attacked as he dived towards Daemon. "Tail Hammer!" Ankylomon exclaimed as he swung his tail at Daemon while he was engaged with MagnaAngemon. As the attacks hit Daemon, Aquilamon closed in on the demon Digimon and prepared to join the fight.

The two attacks easily found their target, but seemed to have no effect on Daemon as he continued his assault on MagnaAngemon. Circling above Daemon, Aquilamon dived forward, talons first, intending to strike Daemon once again when his back was turned.

However, this time Daemon was prepared for the surprise assault and disengaged MagnaAngemon by kicking them apart just in time to evade Aquilamon. Unable to stop himself before crashing, Aquilamon painfully hit the ground and began rolling away, clearly out of control.

Ankylomon charged at Daemon after Aquilamon's attacked had missed, intending to run the evil Digimon over. Daemon easily saw the attack coming and jumped into the air while extended a clawed hand just before Ankylomon came into contact with him. The dinosaur-like Digimon was completely caught off guard as Daemon did this and suddenly felt himself being lifted up into the air by one of the spikes on his back.

Before Ankylomon could do anything to break free from his grip, he felt himself violently thrown down and landed on Aquilamon, the giant bird-Digimon letting out a painful grown as it happened. As both of the Digimon were lying on the ground, Daemon dove towards them with his claws raised but stopped as he saw MagnaAngemon fly in between him and his opponents.

"Stop this Daemon! It is too late; you've failed" MagnaAngemon exclaimed, elevating until he was at eye level with Daemon.

"Don't mock me! I've defeated every one of you! You're the final one that will fall, and then I will take over every world! You are the ones that have failed" Daemon taunted as him and MagnaAngemon crept closer and closer to each other.

"It's not here anymore" MagnaAngemon calmly responded, raising his sword in preparation for an attack. Daemon was just about to charge when he suddenly felt an immense source of energy suddenly vanish. Realizing what had happened, Daemon quickly turned his back towards MagnaAngemon and began looking back and forth before crying out in frustration.

"Where is it!? Where did you take Destiny Stone!?" he demanded, turning back to MagnaAngemon. "I could feel it throughout our battle, and now it's just gone! Where did you take it?!" he yelled so loudly that it hurt the Digidestined's ears and made the environment tremble.

Unaffected by Daemon's obvious rage, MagnaAngemon responded "You won't ever find it. Give up this quest of destruction Daemon; it is pointless now".

"If you don't want to tell me where you took it, then I'll take something even more important to you" Daemon mumbled darkly before swinging a flaming fist at MagnaAngemon. Completely caught off guard, MagnaAngemon barely managed to raise his beam shield and block the first of Daemon's punches, but soon found himself trying to evade a flurry of attacks.

Being much more powerful that MagnaAngemon, Daemon finally managed to wear his opponent down enough for him to drop his defenses. Taking advantage of this, Daemon pounced on MagnaAngemon and began to land hit after hit on him, MagnaAngemon's defenses suddenly useless.

"MagnaAngemon!" TK exclaimed as he saw the battle from a distance. Looking around, he saw the rest of the Digimon struggle to get to their feet and assist him, clearly still weak from Daemon's previous attack. "We have to help him!"

"TK, no! You'll get killed" Yolie yelled as she grabbed his arm. "There's no way you're getting in the middle of that". In his weekend state, TK found that he couldn't break free from Yolie's grasp without putting himself in excruciating pain and could only watch as his friend was savagely hit time and time again.

In a final desperate attempt to go on the offensive, MagnaAngemon lifted his sword and took a wild slash at Daemon, doing anything to get the evil Digimon away from him. However, Daemon easily countered the attack and grabbed MagnaAngemon's wrist, immobilizing him as Daemon continued to land blow after blow. As each punch landed with an explosion of flames, MagnaAngemon soon beaten into defeat.

Finally releasing MagnaAngemon's wrist, Daemon grabbed the angelic Digimon by his throat and threw him to the ground. Before anyone had a chance to react to the beating from Daemon, the evil Digimon raised his arm and began forming a sphere of flaming energy. Each second the sphere of energy grew and soon it was larger than Daemon's entire body.

"NO!" TK cried out as he saw Daemon prepare to attack his friend. Summoning the rest of the strength he had left in him, TK recklessly broke away from Yolie's grip and painfully sprinted towards MagnaAngemon. "TK!" Yolie exclaimed as she realized what had happened.

TK only managed to get halfway towards his partner before he felt two arms wrap around him and he stumbled to the ground. "TK, there's nothing you can do!" he heard Kari cry out as she fell to the ground with him, her body in between Daemon and TK. "Kari, I have to help him" he pleaded, trying to get back to his feet but found that he couldn't with Kari's arms wrapped around him. Had TK not been injured, he would've forced the young brunette off of him, but was too weak to do so after the events of the last several days.

Just as Daemon was preparing to attack MagnaAngemon, he noticed the rest of the Digimon had managed to rise to their feet and had him surrounded, though none of them looked strong enough to attack him. Even MagnaAngemon had managed to get to his knees despite the brutal beating he had just been through. Chuckling to himself, Daemon changed his mind and hovered to the ground, the sphere of energy still in the palm of his hand. "I won't kill you, not yet" he said evilly as he finally landed on the ground. "I will teach all of you despair before I kill you" Daemon whispered quietly before slamming the sphere of fire on the ground.

As soon as his fist hit the ground, a huge, circular wave of fire exploded from around Daemon and went straight towards the Digidestined and their Digimon. As the attack inched closer and closer, the size of the attack continued to grow, and soon the tower of flames were taller than even some of the Digimon. Realizing what Daemon was doing, all of the Digimon mustered the rest of their energy and dove towards their respective partners, knowing they would die if the attack reached them.

Each of the Digimon managed to reach their respective partners before the attack reached them, and did their best to cover them up from the blast while preparing for the impact. Daemon's attack connected with each Digimon a moment later, drawing out a cry of pain from each of them as they took the majority of the damage. The intensity of the attack was so powerful that upon contact with them, each of the Digimon instantly reverted back to their Rookie forms, allowing the remainder of the energy to seep through and hit the children.

None of the children were prepared as Daemon's attack managed to reach them, preventing any of them from protecting themselves. When the wave of energy first hit them, each of the children were sent flying backwards with the exception of TK and Kari, who were already on the ground. As each of the Digidestined hit the ground with a hard _thud_, they all slipped into unconsciousness, leaving each one of them defenseless to Daemon's will.

Walking forward while admiring the destruction he had just created, Daemon prepared to leave the battlefield when he heard a painful coughing-noise near him. Smiling as he heard this, he began to make his way to the source of the noise, passing several of the defeated Digimon and Digidestined in the process.

* * *

><p>TK tried to cover his ears to stop the intense ringing that was resonating within them, but could not since Kari's arms were still wrapped around him in a protective manner. Turning his head, he could see that both Gatomon and Patamon were on the ground with their eyes closed, clearly hurt. When he noticed this, he realized that Angewomon and MagnaAngemon must've managed to reach the pair before Daemon's attack directly hit them. In addition to having two Digimon shielding him, Kari had also sacrificed herself to ensure he took as little injury as possible.<p>

Groaning, TK did his best to lift Kari off of him so he could check on the young brunette, but found that he was still too weak to lift even her small frame. Despite knowing this, he continued to struggle before he heard a set of thunderous footsteps making their way towards him. Knowing who the footsteps belonged to, TK doubled his efforts to get out from under Kari so that he could lead the danger away from her and the rest of the group, but continued to come up short.

Suddenly, TK felt Kari's weight swiftly thrown off of him and looked up to see Daemon's dark eyes staring at him, sending chills up his spine. TK did his best to crawl away from Daemon, but Daemon easily kept pace with him and overtook him in a matter of seconds.

When he was close enough to touch TK with the bottoms of his robes, Daemon lifted his foot and placed it painfully on TK's ribs, drawing an agonizing cry from TK as he tried to squirm his way out from his position. "You don't know where they sent the Destiny Stone, do you?" he asked the blonde darkly, still oblivious to what Izzy had really done with the Destiny Stone. As he questioned him, Daemon began increasing the pressure on TK's ribs.

"….no…." he barely managed to respond, closing his eyes as he tried to take his mind off the pain. "But even if I did…there's no way I'd ever say anything to you".

"Good," Daemon said with a laugh, putting even more weight onto TK's injured ribs, "that is going to make what happens next much worse for your friends. Knowing that I killed you for no other reason than to make them feel despair. To take away what little hope they have left" he finished as he finally removed his foot and kicked TK in the ribs. As the kick connected, TK gave another cry of pain as he rolled on the ground clutching his ribs, spitting up blood in the process. The throbbing pain he felt continued to paralyze him and he was completely helpless in front of the evil Digimon.

"I could kill her" he mocked as he began to walk in circles around TK, darkly staring at him. "I could kill that pathetic excuse for a Digimon you have. I could will them both as I forced you to watch and hear, but hope would never die, would it?" Ceasing to walk in circles, Daemon took two steps forward and reached for TK, grabbing the blonde by the neck and lifting him to eye level. Daemon did not choke to, but rather brought the injured boy to his face and said in a whisper "No…all of their hope will end with you. And now that's exactly what I will do".

As last words left Daemon, TK felt an all-to-familiar sensation in his brain as his head began to painfully throb, and he quickly realized Daemon was beginning to torture him as he had earlier. Clutching his head, TK realized all of his reserves of strength had been used long ago, and couldn't help himself as darkness began to engulf him as wave after wave of pain hit him. Groaning, TK closed his eyes and let himself slip into the darkness, doing anything it took to escape Daemon's torture. With one last gasp of air, TK passed out and hung limply in Daemon's grasp.

Once Daemon realized that TK was unconscious, he quickly formulated a plan and turned his head towards his destination, preparing to fly towards it when he felt something lightly brush his foot. Looking down, he saw Kari holding onto his foot as she continued to crawl closer and closer towards Daemon, hoping that somehow she could prevent him from taking TK.

Having been startled into awareness when Daemon threw her off of TK, Kari had seen and heard everything that had transpired and did her best to reach the demon Digimon and her blonde crush before they got away. "…please…" she pleaded weakly, barely strong enough to make an audible sound. "…you…you don't have to do this….he's been through enough" she continued to beg.

Daemon stared at the young girl, quietly impressed that she had the strength to move or the courage to try and stop him. Despite this though, Daemon had every intention of making all of the Digidestined suffer before finally ending them. And he knew exactly where he was going to do it at.

Kari watched as Daemon raised his free arm and point it at her. As he did this, Kari immediately felt her mind explode in pain the same way it had when Daemon had captured her and TK in the Dark Ocean world. Too weak to utter a scream, Kari released her grip on Daemon's leg and grabbed her head, rolling onto her back while moaning in intense pain.

"You're a fool; all of you are fools!" Daemon exclaimed as he watched Kari wither on the ground as he prepared to fly away again. "I will wait for you and all of you shall watch when I end him...I know you are aware of where I will end this…Don't disappoint me".

Kari tried to ignore the throbbing pain in her head as Daemon leapt into the sky and began to fly away, but couldn't do anything more than roll onto her stomach and crawl a few feet. The last image she saw was Daemon's dark figure disappear into the dark, orange sky as the pain overwhelmed her and she fell into darkness.

* * *

><p>"Kari! Kari, talk to me; wake up!" Kari felt herself being shaken as she slowly began to stir, not immediately recognizing the voice. As she finally managed to open her eyes, she felt her upper body being lifted and the familiar embrace of a hug as her eyesight returned to her. "Tai?" she asked, confused as to what was happening.<p>

Releasing his embrace, Tai separated himself from her, though he kept his hands on her shoulders to keep her steady. "I can't believe you're ok! I thought we lost you for a second" he exclaimed as Kari noticed the trail of tears on her brother's face. It was obvious to her that he was genuinely scared for her well-being.

"Yeah Tai I'm fine, don't worr-" Kari began but stopped as her memory from the past few days slowly began to return to her. Before everything finally dawned on her, she faintly heard someone yelling "TK! TK WHERE ARE YOU?! TK!?" After the voice continued to yell and become louder, she recognized the voice belonged to Matt and suddenly everything made sense to her.

"Tai!" she suddenly yelped, frantically grapping his shoulders. "Where's TK? He was right beside me when I was knocked out?" Kari stared at Tai with desperate eyes, causing the older boy to look away in guilt.

"Kari…" he began before turning back towards Matt, who was frantically looking everywhere for his little brother. Returning his gaze back to Kari, Tai said "We…we don't know Kari. Everyone else is accounted for but…" Trailing off, Tai found that he could not continue talking as his gaze returned to a frantic and hysterical Matt.

Time felt like it suddenly stopped for Kari as she realized Tai couldn't complete his sentence. She slowly began to recount her conversation with Daemon before blacking out, trying to remember anything that could lead them to TK. A sudden realization came upon Kari, causing her to gasp, and she grabbed Tai's shoulder and turned him towards her. "How long have we been unconscious?" she frantically asked as the two rose to their feet.

"Uh…I don't know. Izzy said he thought it's probably been an hour" he responded, clearly confused as he noticed a mixture of guilt, fear, and hope in Kari's eyes.

"OK…OK" she thought out loud as she began to think. "Tai," Kari said, looking her brother in the eye, "we have to go right now" Kari told him as she rose to her feet and began to walk towards Matt. Grabbing her arm, Tai stopped her from walking away and said "What are you doing? Where do we have to go?" as he too got up.

"Tai…please just this once you have to trust me" she pleaded with him. Tai took a few deep breaths before nodding his head and letting go of his sister's arm, doing his best to give her a supportive smile. "Thank you" she whispered before turning and running towards Matt.

"Matt!" Kari called out as she managed to catch up with the older boy. As he saw her run up to him, Matt opened his mouth to say something to Kari but stopped as Kari began talking before he could utter a word. "Matt stop; I know where he took TK".

**So since it's become a consistent thing (unfortunately) I'll go ahead and say it: I'm really sorry for the late update. First off, my laptop finally decided to die and thus I had to save up for a new laptop. In total, I've been computer-less since December. It is the end of March, so I've officially had this laptop for a total of three weeks. Spring Break was two week ago for me, and I'm not going to lie, I desperately needed a break from school to catch up on some sleep. Then, once I got back from Spring Break (for those of you who haven't done the math, this is last week) I was bombarded with 3 exams, an interim presentation for my project, and a 25-page paper on my project. And to top it all off, my dorm flooded so I got to deal with that for a few days. Not that any of this means anything, I just really felt the need to rant to someone (or some-ones as hopefully is the case).Yet somehow, in the middle of all of that, I managed to write this chapter. Basically, I really hope everyone liked this chapter because it was a pain to knock out .**

**On a MUCH brighter note: I've got 100+ reviews for this story! I literally jumped for joy when I saw that. For everyone who said they thought the story deserved more, thank you for your opinion and I really appreciate it. Additionally, this story is over two years old (I milestone I forgot to mention last chapter), so I was pleasantly surprised by that when I realized it. Anyways, I just really wanted to be sure and thank everyone for reading and enjoying the story thus far.**

**Lastly, thank you for for noticing the spelling error in my summary. I'm not going to lie, I have absolutely no idea how I missed that. And to chromate, thanks for telling me how to separate my scenes. Hopefully this works when I upload it.**

**I'm planning on 2-3 more chapters for this story (not entirely sure yet), but I'm sure I'll have it figured out by my next posting. I hope you enjoyed the chapter and please review!**


	22. Premonition Pt2

**So I'm pretty sure that I'm posting this chapter faster than any of the other ones in recent memory. Personally, that's a morale victory for me because finals this semester kind of left me wanting someone to shoot me in the face (although apparently I did really well on all of them). Anyways, I'm hoping to get everyone's opinion because I'm facing a bit of a dilemma, but we can get to that at the end of the chapter. For now, please read and enjoy.**

TK groaned as he felt his entire body engulfed in pain. After several moments, he managed to control his breathing and relax himself as best he could. When the pain had finally dulled down to a bearable level, he opened his eyes and began to observe his surroundings, unaware of the events that had taken place ever since he had been unconscious. "Where am I?" he muttered to himself, seeing the gloomy environment he found himself in. Looking around, he quickly realized that he was on top of a mountain, and the skies above him were colored a frightening orange, as if the world around him were nearing its end.

"This place is significant, isn't it?" a dark voice asked TK from behind, causing him to jump in surprise. Turning around, he saw Daemon standing a few feet away with his back turned to him, watching the gloomy surroundings.

"…Infinity Mountain…" TK slowly said, his location finally dawning on him. Taking another look around, he realized that he was in the exact area where the group had first met the Dark Masters, nearly 10 years earlier. "Why did you bring me here?" he asked the evil Digimon as he struggled to rise to his feet.

"This is where it all began for you and your friends. It only seems fitting that this is where you will fall…" he said as he turned to face the injured blonde. "The legends say that long ago, I evolved from the same line as your partner. And that the powers of darkness molded me into what I am today".

"Is that why you needed me?" TK asked, doing his best to stall whatever Daemon's plan was. "You wanted me specifically because I have a link with Patamon…meaning that in a way I have a link to you too".

Daemon chuckled as he began to walk towards TK, creating a thunderous sound with each step. "Yes…all I had to do was force you to embrace the powers of darkness just as I once did. Ironic that it was her, the bearer of light, that ultimately made that happen".

"You have what you wanted, why don't you just finish us like you keep saying?" the blonde asked as he let Daemon's words sink in.

"Soon" Daemon answered as he stopped a few inches away from TK. "But first I'm going to drain every ounce of hope that you and the rest of the Digidestined have left…And then I will end your pathetic lives".

"…We can stop you, can't we?" TK asked just as Daemon was about to turn his back towards the blonde once more. "And you know how we can…"

"Not without you…and I will make sure you are the first one to fall" he finished as he raised his arm, pointing it at TK. Not giving the blonde a chance to respond, TK's head erupted in pain as Daemon began to torture him once again. Falling on his back, TK began to cry out in pain as he once again found himself in an all too familiar position. Slowly, his mind began to go numb as wave after wave of pain hit him.

After watching TK wither on the ground for nearly five minutes, Daemon stopped his torture, leaving the blonde limp on the ground, his eyes closed as he groaned in pain. Walking up to him, Daemon slammed a foot onto his injured ribs, causing TK to give a painful cough as he spit up more blood. Removing his foot, Daemon reached down and lifted TK by his shirt and stared at him until the blonde opened his eyes.

Daemon laughed as his prisoner finally opened his eyes after several seconds and saw the results of his continued torture. The boy hung limply in Daemon's grip as Daemon watched the last bit of visible hope fade from TK's body. The blonde's normally deep blue eyes had faded and been replaced by a lifeless grey tone.

* * *

><p><strong>Kari rode on Angewomon's back as she held a still unconscious Patamon in her arms. After she had awoken, she had managed to convince all of the Digidestined of where Daemon had taken TK without revealing anymore of her dream to them. Despite this, the children still had to wait for their Digimon to awaken and regain their strength. In all, she guessed that Daemon easily had a two hour lead on them.<strong>

They had left the battlefield immediately and head straight towards Infinity Mountain once their Digimon were able to digivolve, with the exception of Patamon. Looking around, she noticed that in their strongest forms, all of the Digimon had the ability to fly with the exception of Zudomon and Ankylomon. As a result, the two Digimon were being carried by Garudamon and MegaKabuterimon, respectively. "How far are we?" Kari asked Angewomon loud enough for only her to hear.

"Not far" the angelic Digimon responded without turning her head. "I can see it in the distance. Don't worry Kari, we will make it in time". Kari chose not to respond and instead closed her eyes, silently praying that they would make it to Infinity Mountain in time to save TK. Suddenly feeling a small movement in her arms, Kari opened her eyes and noticed Patamon begin to stir. Slowly, the small Digimon opened his eyes and saw a concerned Kari looking over him.

"…Kari?" he asked, too weak to move any more than he already had "…Where's TK?"

At first, Kari wasn't sure how to respond to the weak Digimon. On one hand, she was never one to lie to her friends, but she didn't want to worry the already fragile Digimon. "…We're…going to get him right now Patamon" she finally responded. Too weak to understand the meaning in her words, Patamon simply nodded before closing his eyes once more, clearly still drained from his most recent battle.

"I can see it ahead!" Tai yelled out a few moments later from on top of Omnimon. He and Matt were flying a few feet ahead of the rest of the Digidestined, and thus had the best view. "We'll be there in five minutes; get ready!"

As they neared, Kari found that she could also see Infinity Mountain and felt her heart drop as she noticed the amber barrier that was surrounding the top of the mountain. Kari had stopped breathing as she saw the barrier, and gasped for air as she finally gained enough composure to breathe again. "This can't be happening" she whispered to herself as images from her dream began to flash through her head. "Angewomon, hurry!" she exclaimed. Listening to her partner, Angewomon increased her speed and soon was in front of the others.

"Kai! What are you doing!?" Tai exclaimed as he saw the angelic Digimon fly past him and land on the mountain alone. As soon as Angewomon landed, he watched as Kari jumped off her partner, leaving Patamon with her, and ran towards the barrier, only to be knocked to the ground as soon as she touched it. Rising to her feet, she ran back up to it and began pounding it with her fist, doing anything in her power to penetrate the protective barrier. Before she had a chance to do anything else, she felt her arm suddenly grabbed and turned to see Tai as he pulled her away from the barrier; he and the others and landed and caught up to her without the young brunette noticing.

"Kari, stop it! You're going to get yourself killed!" he snapped as the rest of the Digidestined and their Digimon reached her. "Tai, you don't understand. We don't have time, we have to-" Kari stopped as she saw Tai had diverted his attention past Kari and noticed the look of complete fear and despair on her brother's face.

Kari was confused as she looked at her brother's expression, and was even more surprised when she turned her gaze to the rest of the Digidestined and noticed the exact same expression etched on their faces. Realizing that something was happening behind her, Kari snapped her head around and gasped as she saw the same sight as the others.

In front of her, protected by the barrier, was a glaring Daemon. At his feet was a limp and defenseless TK, evidence of his torture covering his entire body. Kari couldn't help but hold her breath as she watched the scene in front of her, realizing she had seen this exact spectacle in her dreams. "Tai…" she began to whisper, doing her best not to lose control of herself. Before she had a chance to say another word, a chill ran up her spine as she heard Daemon's evil voice "You have ruined my plans for the last time Digidestined! Now I will make you suffer. Starting with him!" Reaching down, Daemon snatched TK by his hair and pulled him up to his knees, drawing a painful groan from the blonde as he slowly opened his eyes.

The Digidestined were shocked into silence when TK opened his eyes and revealed that all of the color in them had disappeared. The deep, hopeful blue they had all grown accustomed to was replaced by a dull, deathly grey. "No…" Kari whispered as she shook her head, not wanting to believe that any of this was happening.

Upon seeing the shocked and horrified faces of the Digidestined, Daemon let out an evil laugh and grabbed TK's head with both clawed hands, causing TK to cry out in pain as his torture continued. Both of TK's hands instantly grabbed onto Daemon's claws and attempted to pry them away from his head, but was too weak to even bother the evil Digimon.

"Matt! Kari!" the Digidestined heard him cry out in desperation, hoping that somehow they would be able to save him from his torture. In response, all of the Digimon began to attack the barrier with reckless abandonment, doing anything they could to break through. Despite their best efforts, the protective barrier remained intact.

Kari watched in shocked silence as the Digimon continued their assault as the Digidestined yell threats and pleads towards Daemon. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Matt begin to cry as he slowly came to the realization that he had finally failed to protect his little brother.

As TK's cries became weaker and weaker, Daemon finally released his grip on the blonde's head and violently threw him to the ground. Landing on his side, Kari watched as TK began to cough up more blood as he desperately covered his injured ribs. Although he clearly did not have the strength, TK did his best to crawl over to this friends and to safety, but was stopped as Daemon slammed his foot onto TK's back. Crying out in pain, TK was pinned to the ground and forced to remain still.

"Know that I won't stop with your deaths" Daemon began to yell in a booming voice. "After I slowly and painfully end each of your pathetic lives, I will hunt down those you care about and make them feel all the pain in the world before I end them". As he finished, he once again reached down with a clawed hand and violently snatched TK by his hair and pulled him up until he was several feet off the ground. "And now…HOPE WILL DIE!"

Extending his free hand, a dark spear that was several feet in length formed in his claw. Upon seeing this, the Digimon doubled their efforts to try and break through the barrier, as the Digidestined could only watch in shock as they were about to witness the evil Digimon murder their friend. Kari couldn't help herself as the strength in her legs disappeared and she fell to her knees. Laughing as he noticed the children's reactions, Daemon raised TK even higher as if to boast before raising the spear in preparation to thrust it.

Time seemed to slow down as Kari watched her premonition come true. Tears began to stream down her face as she watched the blonde boy raise his eyes and look directly at Kari, as if he was trying to accomplish one last thing before his death. She watched as he painfully mouthed two words to her: I'm sorry. Before she had a chance to react, the sharp end of Daemon's spear went through TK's chest, drawing one last painful gasp from TK as he slowly went limp.

"NOOOO!" Kari cried out, hating that she could do nothing to help the boy she had come to love. Around her all of the Digidestined were speechless, and even the Digimon seemed greatly shocked by what had just happened. As everyone remained perfectly still, Daemon's spear began to disintegrate into millions of pieces, and soon the spear had disappeared entirely. Replacing its place in TK's body was a large bloodspot, evidence of where he had been stabbed. Still watching the Digidestined, Daemon threw TK's seemingly lifeless body to the ground behind him and began to make his way towards the rest of the Digidestined.

"Kari," Matt said coldly as he watched the evil Digimon walk towards the group, "as soon as you get a chance, get to TK" he finished, never taking his eyes off of the evil Digimon. Kari didn't know how to respond, knowing that there wasn't anything that could be said to ease the situation. "OK" she finally whispered as she continued to cry.

"You're hope is gone know" Daemon boasted as he inched closer and closer to them. "How do you expect to defeat me now?" Stopping a few feet away from the barrier, Daemon stared down the Digidestined as the children tensed up, knowing this would be their final confrontation. "The answer is: you can't" he continued menacingly as the barrier separating them suddenly began to disintegrate from the top down. "And now, all of you will meet the same fate. Now all of you will die!"

With his final word, the barrier separating the Digidestined from Daemon had completely disappeared and Daemon lunged straight towards Kari, his claws extended. Before he had a chance to make contact with the small brunette, Omnimon jumped in between her and Daemon, blocking the evil Digimon with his sword. Omnimon summoned all of his strength and pushed Daemon away from the Digidestined, knocking the evil Digimon back a few feet. Immediately, Omnimon and the rest of the Digimon jumped at Daemon, intending to attack him at the same time before he had a chance to brace himself.

Seeing an opportunity to escape from Daemon's attention, Kari darted towards TK, the blonde lying motionless in the same spot Daemon had thrown him several yards away. Soon, she was past Daemon and the other Digimon, and could hear the sounds of an intense battle taking place behind her. Despite this, her only focus was on getting to TK.

"TK!" Kari exclaimed as she finally came within a few feet of the blonde. Slowing down to a walk, Kari was suddenly scared to call out for him again, worried that she wouldn't be able to handle the sight of a lifeless TK. He was lying with his back towards Kari, but she could see the bloody wound that Daemon had left when he stabbed him. Slowly falling to her knees, Kari reached out with a trembling hand and grabbed TK's shoulder. "…TK…?" she quietly asked, finally rolling him over. Expecting the worst, Kari was shocked at what she saw when she had rolled TK onto his back: despite the stab wound from Daemon's attack, the blonde was painfully breathing, doing everything he could to stay alive. "Oh my god! TK….TK can you hear me?" she pleaded.

"…Ka…Kari…hey" he managed to say, doing his best to hide his obvious pain from the young brunette. Kari couldn't help but smile even though she could feel the tears running down her face; despite everything, TK was still trying to convince her that he was going to be ok. "I'm going to get you out of here TK, ok? We're going to get you to a hospital and everything is going to work out" she told him, trying to convince herself as well as him.

As she continued to tend to TK, Kari was oblivious to her surroundings, including a set of footsteps coming from behind her. Jumping as she felt a hand on her shoulder, she finally noticed Joe standing behind her as she sat on her knees, holding the injured blonde in her hands. "Kari, we have to get out of the ope-" Joe began, but stopped mid-sentence as he saw that TK was somehow still alive. "Kari, start putting pressure on his wound; we have to stop the bleeding" he immediately ordered as he got to his knees as well and started inspecting TK. Taking off his jacket, he pressed it onto TK's wounds and began to press down on it, drawing a painful groan from the blonde. "I know TK, I'm sorry" he said as he continued to press down on the wound.

Grabbing Kari's hand and placing it on top of TK's wound, he said "Keep your hand there and keep applying pressure. I know you don't want to hurt him, but it's the only thing that will keep him alive right now". Removing his hand, Joe placed his fingers on TK's wrist, trying to check for a pulse. "He's fading; we need to get him out of here…where's the nearest portal?" he asked as he quickly scanned the field.

"Um….I think its a few yards in the woods, but he's never going to make that walk Joe" she responded, trying to remain calm.

"If we keep him here he's as good as dead" Joe told her without hesitation. Rising to his feet, Joe grabbed one of TK's arm and wrapped it around his shoulder, raising the injured blonde. "He's lost too much blood and I don't have any supplies to help him here. If we stay he'll either bleed out or get caught up in the battle. Listen, I need your help to get him out of here…I know the two of you are…close; this is the only way to save him Kari". Though still unsure, Kari nodded her head and went to TK's other side, doing her best to support TK. As soon as he was properly supported, the two began to walk as fast as they could down the mountain and into the forest.

* * *

><p><strong>The battle with Daemon wasn't going well for any of the Digimon, as he continuously threw each one of his opponents to the ground. <strong>Despite their valiant effort, all of the Digimon were still drained from their previous encounter with Daemon and could barely manage to land a blow on the evil Digimon.

As Daemon threw the last of the ultimate-level Digimon towards the ground, he turned his attention once more to Imperialdramon and Omnimon. Although neither Digimon had fared any better that their comrades, they refused to give up. "Fools!" Daemon exclaimed as his two opponents struggled to their feet. Walking towards them, Daemon never gave the two Digimon a chance to prepare themselves before attacking again. Diving towards Imperialdramon, the evil Digimon extended a claw and grabbed him by the neck and began to elevate, evading Omnimon's wild sword slash. Once he was a few feet in the air, he threw the Imperialdramon to the ground, raising his arm in the process in preparation for an attack. "Evil Inferno!" he exclaimed, sending a fiery attack at the dragon-like Digimon. Imperialdramon was completely defenseless as he hit the ground, the force of the impact making him bounce back up. As this happened, Daemon's attack connected, engulfing Imperialdramon in fire. Once the attack finally ceased, the mighty Digimon lay limp on the ground, too weak to even move.

The last Digimon left, Omnimon attacked Daemon without hesitation, leading his attack with his sword. Slashing horizontally with his sword, Daemon managed to duck under the attack and fall back towards the ground. Diving, Omnimon raised his other arm and pointed his cannon at Daemon, exclaiming "Supreme Cannon!"

Time seemed to slow down for Daemon as he braced himself for Omnimon's attack. Raising his arms, he caught three figures in the corner of his eyes, and slightly turned his head so he could see the figures while still keeping most of his attention on Omnimon. Instantly, he recognized Kari and one of the other Digidestined carrying a limp TK. Although he couldn't move on his own, he realized that the blonde must've somehow managed to survive his attack, and that they were now trying to get the blonde to safety.

Angered by this realization and making a decisive decision, Daemon returned his attention to Omnimon in time to catch his opponent's attack, the orb of energy humming as it remained stationary in Daemon's claws. Taking one last glance at TK and the other two Digidestined, he prepared to direct Omnimon's attack towards the children, intending to kill them.

Just as the attack was leaving Daemon's claws, Daemon felt Omnimon tackle the evil Digimon to the ground, completing his diving attack. As both Digimon fell to the ground, the attack left Daemon's hand and headed straight towards Kari, TK, and Joe. "NO!" Omnimon exclaimed as he saw the attack fly towards the children, believing he had done nothing but prolonged the inevitable fate of his friends. All of the Digimon and the Digidestined watched as the attack zoomed towards the unsuspecting group, too scared to utter a warning.

After what seemed like an eternity to the Digidestined, the attack finally hit the ground a few yards in front of the exposed Digidestined, much to the relief of the others. Somehow, Omnimon's attack on Daemon had altered the projection of the attack. However, despite not landing a direct hit, the impact of the blast had hit Kari, TK, and Joe, and sent all three children crashing to the ground, separating them in the process.

* * *

><p><strong>TK roughly landed on his side and rolled for several more feet, grabbing his injured ribs when he finally came to a stop.<strong> Breathing heavily, the blonde did his best to crawl towards cover and get away from the battle, but found that he was too weak after moving only a few inches. Looking around, he tried to find someone to help him, but found that he could not see more than a few feet in front of him due to the pounding in his ahead, a result of the explosion.

On the verge of giving up, he suddenly felt soft hands help him to his feet, causing TK to turn his gaze to his side and see Kari. Although he was disoriented, he could clearly see that she was desperately looking for a place to hide as her head whipped back and forth with a worried expression. Finally deciding on a course of action, she began to drag TK as quickly as she could, the blonde unable to do much to assist her. After a struggle, Kari managed to drag TK behind a large boulder and laid him down on his back.

Upon getting the blonde settled, Kari's first instinct was to check TK's wound and immediately took note that he had lost even more blood. "…Kar…Kari…" he began to utter as she touched the wound. "Listen to me…I…have to help them…" he painfully muttered. "They…they need Patamon…to stop Daemon".

"No TK; you're crazy if you think you're doing anything else" she instantly responded. Grabbing his face so that they could look each other in the eyes, she continued saying "I'm not going to lose you, do you understand? That is not an option. I…we're going to get you out of here and you're going to be fine …ok?"

TK did his best to smile at the brunette as he slowly took her hand. "Kari…I'm sorry…but I need you to trust me…we can stop him Kari, but I need your help". Kari felt herself begin to tear up as she watched TK continue to persevere. Finally, she began to shake her head no, clearly at a loss of words. Managing to compose herself for a brief moment, she said "You can't keep doing this TK. You're not strong enough to…why? Why won't you just stop fighting TK? You've already tried and now you're about to die. You don't have to keep fighting".

"I have you Kari; that's the only reason I need" he answered with a deep breath, doing his best to sound strong. Squeezing her hand tighter, he used his free hand to move a stray piece of her behind her head and held her cheek. "Losing you isn't an option for me Kari…I refuse to let it happen".

Kari couldn't help it as the tears continued to roll down her face, while slowly nodding her head. Unable to speak, she silently sat beside TK as he gave her a small smile, silently thanking her. Before either one of the teens had a chance to respond, both heard a small flapping noise come closer and closer to them. Soon, the two turned their heads and where surprised to see Patamon hovering down to them, apparently having partially recovered from the previous battle. "TK?" the small Digimon asked as he landed beside Kari. "TK…I'm sorry" he began after taking a moment to look at TK. "I tried to protect you but…he's so strong and I'm…not. I can't do it" Patamon told him, depression evident in his voice.

"Hey buddy, don't say that" TK said sympathetically as he removed his hand from Kari's cheek and used it to lightly pat Patamon's head. "You were great out there Patamon…You didn't fail Patamon. And it's not over yet. I'm not done fighting" he finished, causing the Digimon to stand up a little taller.

Not fully understanding what he was talking about, Patamon turned his gaze towards Kari, who at first only responded by closing her eyes as she nodded to him. "He's…he hasn't given up yet…And neither have I. As long as he hasn't given up hope, then neither have I".

"Buddy…" TK began, drawing Patamon's attention back to the blonde. "Do you have one more fight left in you?" Flapping his ears, Patamon rose up from the ground and began to hover in the air, as if trying to prepare himself for something. "As long as you do" was his only response as he began to back up a few feet, giving himself some room.

TK smiled as he saw his partner's will to keep fighting and reached into his pocket, pulling out his digivice. Raising it so that he could allow his partner to digivolve, he suddenly stopped as he felt Kari's hand grab his and ask: "MagnaAngemon couldn't stop him TK…what are you going to do? ...How am I going to help you?"

Using both hands and turning his gaze towards her, TK cupped one of Kari's small hands and pulled her closer to him. "Kari…don't lose hope, ok?" he asked, almost pleading. "You're the most amazing person I've ever known, and I know that you can do anything. But you if you don't believe that like I do, then we fail. I need you Kari. I need you to not give up"

Kari initially chose not to respond, but instead crept closer to TK, gazing into his eyes. Giving the blonde a small, honest smile, Kari nodded her head and told the boy: "I promise TK; I'll always have hope".

As soon as Kari said that, she jumped as she felt her digivice vibrating with uncontainable power. Pulling the small device from her pocket, she held it in front of TK as it continued to mysteriously glow. Suddenly, a beam of light shot out from her digivice and went directly into TK, though the event seemed to have no effect on the blonde other than surprising him. Kari stared at her digivice in shock as energy continued to be flow into TK with a slight humming. After a moment, the power faded from Kari's digivice and sat quietly in her hand. Confused, Kari turned her attention back towards TK and gasped at what she saw. Similarly, TK was staring at his chest with wide eyes and a small smile on his face, almost in disbelief.

Emblazoned on TK's chest was the Crest of Hope. The shining figure was so bright that the illuminating light could be seen past the boulder, and caused several of the Digidestined to briefly turn their attention away from Daemon.

Somehow summoning an unknown reserve of strength, TK took one last look at Kari and gave a bright, hopeful smile as he realized that Kari had somehow given enough power for one last battle. Despite her emotions, Kari returned TK's smile and looked towards the waiting Patamon, who now seemed eager to digivolve. "Do it TK!" she told the blonde.

"Patamon! Digivolve!" TK cried out as he raised his digivice and pointed it at his partner. Immediately, the digivice emitted an explosion of light that quickly engulfed Patamon in a orb of light. The air surrounding Patamon crackled with energy, a display of one the most concentrated amount of power that any of the Digidestined had ever seen. Soon, TK and Kari heard the small Digimon say through the noise: "Patamon warp digivolve to…"

The orb of energy suddenly broke apart in an explosion of light, causing TK and Kari to cover their eyes, the intensity of the blast was so great that it hurt their eyes. Finally raising their eyes to see what had happened, TK and Kari couldn't help but gasp in awe as the saw the being that hovered in front of them.

In place of Patamon stood a new celestial Digimon that seemed bigger and stouter than any other angel-like Digimon they had seen before. Equal to Daemon in size, this Digimon had ten golden wings protruding from his back that arched upwards and kept him hovering in the air, as if he were too powerful to touch the ground. His entire face was covered by a blue helmet that had a gold diamond on the front and two white feathers on its sides. Similar to the helmet, his shoulder pads, arm braces, and shin guards were the same metallic blue, and had gold accents all over them. The remainder of his body was covered in a silver armor, with his chest plate emblazoned with the golden symbol of hope.

"…Seraphimon!" TK and Kari watched in silent astonishment as the powerful Digimon began to rise into the air. Taking one last look at his partner, Seraphimon turned his back towards the children and headed straight towards Daemon, preparing to finish off the evil Digimon once and for all.

**So I'm debating whether or not to have either one or two more chapters, so I would love to hear everyone's opinion on it. If you do choose to let me know your opinion on the matter (and I sincerely hope that you do), please take into consideration that if I only do one more, than that chapter will be fairly long, and thus take a little longer to post. Obviously if I did two chapters, they would be shorter but (hopefully) I would be getting those out a little quicker. If you have an opinion either way, I would love to hear it so just let me know in the comment section. Well, as I said the last couple of chapters, I'm planning on wrapping this story up fairly soon, so I really hope everyone has enjoyed it thus far. For anyone especially peeved that I'm stopping this chapter right before the "finale", I really hope you forgive me for ending in another cliffhanger (although I feel I deserve some slack for ending it on a semi-high morale). As always, I'm eager to hear what everyone has to say about the story so please leave a comment. I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter and I'll get the next one out as soon as I can. Thanks for reading and please review.**


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